So in a quest to become more “inclusive” editors at Huff Post’s LGBT news section have decided to call it Queer Voices.
Sometimes rebrands work. Sometimes they fail and they deserve to.
Hundreds of people have flooded social media and the Huff’s own website to decry the move which sees the LGBT section on Huffington Post rebranded to Queer Voices replacing Gay Voices – leaving many readers of the popular site offended.
Personally, I find the term outrageous and disgusting, and as many people have said actually traumatic. It’s a deplorable word that many of us have been on the receiving end of; usually, attach with an angry voice and more often than not – a fist.
Obvio, sly as the editor of a company called THEGAYUK I love the word gay, to me, it is a word that I can reclaim, despite it being used as a negative towards me as a child and teenager. Now, I love the word, after all, its origins meant happy, which is what I spend most of time being now, or at least trying to be. I understand that the word gay doesn’t represent all, but neither does queer. Not by a long shot.
Queer is a word that has the meanings wrong, ill, incorrect and weird embedded deep into its roots.
Noah Michelson the Voice’s Editorial Director seems to believe that the term queer is “inclusive and empowering.”
Why on earth would we use that word to champion us, to lift us up and define us a community.
I believe queer is an insult and I can’t accept it as anything other as a word that deserves to be forever binned – along with fag, faggot, sissy, poof and bent.
Recently THEGAYUK took a flash poll to see if they thought the term “queer” was the way forward in grouping the LGBT community under one umbrella term. Sixty per cent gave an outright no answer, only 15 per cent thought it was right.
I understand some will reclaim the word. But most won’t or want to.
There are so many other terms and visuals that our community have embraced, so the questions begs, why not HuffPost Rainbow Voice, HuffPost LGBT+ Voices or just plainly HuffPost Pride Voices.
So you’ll be happy to know we won’t be in a rush to change our brand in the name of trying to include anybody other than 100 per cent heterosexuals but seemingly offending everybody in the process.
Updated 9/2/2016
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Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you'd like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
