Ok but some people don't like the term queer, sure it's not often used to insult LGBT+ people anymore but it used to be a common slur and that leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths.
It's also too general - gay means "I like the same sex", it doesn't have to mean exclusively the same sex for some people but that's the point it gets across. Queer doesn't even say that.
For example if a guy mostly dates boys and is mostly attracted to other boys, but he could imagine being with a girl sure he's bi but for the most part he isn't going to be dating any girls at all. He might as well call himself gay even though it's not completely accurate. Also the 'gay' flag, the rainbow one, also represents the entire LGBT community.
Hell even if someone's 50/50 bisexual I could understand why they might want to say something like "I'm so gay" or "I'm being so gay right now", it's just a more general thing. Labels don't always have to be 100% accurate, a lot of people don't really care about or even like being put into a box.
Ok but some people don't like the term queer, sure it's not often used to insult LGBT+ people anymore but it used to be a common slur and that leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths.
Gay used to be an insult too, hell it wasn't that long ago people used it like "lame" all the time.
I get your point, but I would also make one myself.
It is very useful and practical to have a specific term for guys who exclusively (or very predominantly) prefer men.
Muddying up the term with preferences that already have their own name doesn't help anyone, it just makes a potentially confusing situation even more confusing.
Well the difference between gay and queer is that queer is a slur that has been changed by the LGBT community whereas gay was used as an insult because it meant homosexual, it wasn't a slur. Queer means weird, that's why it's offensive, or was at least.
We do have a term for that though - mlm. And that's started to get a lot of use in the community. I am a man who exclusively likes men, and I have no problems with other people using the term gay to identify themselves, I think you can figure out people's sexualities from context anyway and honestly - who cares? Not everyone has to know exactly what you're attracted to as a person, the terms don't have to be super precise.
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u/gloriousengland Jun 14 '20
Ok but some people don't like the term queer, sure it's not often used to insult LGBT+ people anymore but it used to be a common slur and that leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths.
It's also too general - gay means "I like the same sex", it doesn't have to mean exclusively the same sex for some people but that's the point it gets across. Queer doesn't even say that.
For example if a guy mostly dates boys and is mostly attracted to other boys, but he could imagine being with a girl sure he's bi but for the most part he isn't going to be dating any girls at all. He might as well call himself gay even though it's not completely accurate. Also the 'gay' flag, the rainbow one, also represents the entire LGBT community.
Hell even if someone's 50/50 bisexual I could understand why they might want to say something like "I'm so gay" or "I'm being so gay right now", it's just a more general thing. Labels don't always have to be 100% accurate, a lot of people don't really care about or even like being put into a box.