Queer
The word queer is elusive and confusing; its etymology is uncertain, and academic and popular usage attributes conflicting meanings to the word. It is often used as an umbrella term that refers to a range of “nonnormative” sexualities and genders—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning (GLBTIQ). In other contexts, queer is a term that resists identity categorizations based on sexual orientation (including heterosexual). As a theoretical strategy, queer reveals the social and historical constructions of identity formation and dualistic concepts that govern normative notions of gender and sexuality.