Written On July 15th, 2009

The Q Word?  Queer Finds Its Place as Advocacy LabelBy Reece W. Manley, DD, M.Ed., MPMScout Production finally did it.  And, they did it well.  Turning “queer” from a hush-hush P.C.  non-use word to a statement of an empowered social culture group.  The LGBT cultural minority grabbed up the old label and held it proudly.David Collins and Michael Williams and their straight producing partner David Metzler launched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in 2003 with breath held to see the reactions of not only the viewing public, but the ever empowered LGBT community as well.  “Nervous.  Very nervous,” David Metzler says, “That was my initial reaction to using the word Queer.  Of course, [Scout Productions] and Collins had done their research showing the word was turning in its acceptable use between banned to embraced.  But, in 2003, it was still a shock value component.”Embraced was a soft description of the reaction to the work.  “I was ecstatic to see the word used,” says Lina C., a real estate mogul in Atlanta, echoing the reactions of millions of gay and lesbian viewers along with their straight counterparts.  “Instead of hiding behind an alphabet soup of initials, I could once again be ‘that queer black lady from south Altanta!”Acceptance of the label of Queer for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered cultural minority be its own members ranks high.  Eighty-one percent of LGBT persons under 40 years of age, rated the word “Queer” as “perfectly acceptable for us by both LGBT and non-LGBT persons in a survey by Texas Research and Investment.As the social minority continues to gain ground toward equal rights, the word queer is increasingly being used.   “Perhaps this gives us what we need-unity,” says David Cross, Human Rights Campaign.  “Instead of bickering about which letter goes where in LGBT, we are just queer.  We’re here, we’re queer!  We have no fear!”Queer is back.  Queer as folks we be.All Rights Reserved ©2009 Texas Research and Investment

Tags: queer, glbt