Gender & Sexuality Week 2026

“NOT GAY AS IN HAPPY, QUEER AS IN…”

There is no one clear definition of queer, as the spirit of the reclaimed term is amorphous in nature. One common refrain, however, is that if queer was pejoratively used to say “you are not normal, you are deviant” then to reclaim it is to say “So what? Why would I want to be considered “normal” by a system that seeks to subjugate me?” As “gay” rose to prominence as a term used by some LGBTQIA+ individuals who wanted to assimilate and be seen as apolitical, “queer” became a way to say “I don’t need your approval, there is nothing wrong with who I love and how I live.” “Not gay as in happy, queer as in…” is an invitation to practice the liberatory thinking informed by our 2SLGBTQIA+ ancestors, icons, and culture. We can dream beyond the world we have, and in fact we must. What power, joy, and possibility live in otherness? How can we all queer our imaginations? What can the environment teach us about what it means to think beyond the status quo?

2SLGBTQIA+ people who identify as gay are not wrong to do so, and not inherently less political, this was just one historical usage of the term.