QUEER is a controversial word, literally meaning unusual, but used for people whose sexual orientation and/or gender identity differ from the norm: a unifying umbrella term for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual, and/or intersex. In this usage, it is usually a synonym of such terms as LGBT or lesbigay.

More people identify as gay or lesbian than as queer. Queer is a much more political term and is often used by those who are politically active; by those who strongly reject traditional gender identities; by those who reject sexual identities such as gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight; by those who see themselves as oppressed by the heteronormativity of the larger culture; and/or by heterosexuals whose sexual preferences make them a minority (for example, BDSM practitioners). Another term used in similar ways is PoMosexual.

Many people, however, identify primarily as Queer rather than gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or intersex. Some feel that other labels do not adequately describe their sexual identity and preferences.

Some queer people identify as such because they feel it empowers them to be themselves on a level that goes beyond the rigid limitations of the traditional polarized interpretation of sexual orientation (either homosexual or heterosexual, or bisexual in the middle) and gender identity (male or female). For these people, being queer means discarding such labels and their expectations and embracing the idea that their sexual identity or practices is simply different from others' in one or more ways.

Historically, the term queer was an epithet for gay men, bordering on profanity. Since the term originated, and in many circumstances persists, as a homophobic slur, and because another common meaning of the word is "strange," many members of sexual minorities do not favor its use.

Many social institutions and social policies reinforce HETERONORMATIVITY: the belief that human beings fall into two distinct and complementary categories, male and female; that sexual and marital relations are normal only when between two people of different genders; and that each gender has certain natural roles in life. Thus, physical sex, gender identity, and gender role, should in any given person all align to either male or female norms, and heterosexuality is considered to be the only normal sexual orientation. Heteronormativity stigmatizes alternative concepts of sexuality and gender.

HETEROSEXISM is the assumption that everyone or a particular person is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is "normal." It can be distinguished from homophobia in that it doesn't necessarily imply hostility towards other sexual orientations, merely a failure to account for their existence. If Fred tells Jake, "Sorry I wasn't home to take your call. I was on a date," and Jake says, "Where did you take her?" Jake has made the heterosexist assumption that Fred's date was a woman, when in fact Fred's date might have been a man.

The term HOMOPHOBIA means fear or hatred of, and/or prejudice or discrimination against people who are homosexual. It is sometimes used to mean any sort of opposition to same-sex romance or sexual activity, though this opposition may more accurately be called anti-gay bias. Homophobia is not a psychiatric term.

Sex and Gender
Sex and Gender are NOT the same

The easy part:

Sex is a description of one's genetic sexual type. Sex is traditionally expressed in the animal kingdom as male/female. In our species, males have a penis, and females have a vagina.

Gender is a description of the perceived masculinity or femininity of a person or characteristic. It is traditionally expressed as man/woman. One can alter this perception.

The harder part:

While it is an expectation (and an assumption) of mainstream society that individuals express their gender and sex congruently, individuals can (and do) choose not to do so. For example, a male wearing a dress, a feminine hairstyle, and makeup would be considered a woman. While this male's gender is woman, her sex is still male. Pronouns are an expression of gender, not sex. Our male woman in this example would be referrered to as "she," not "he." A shorter example: A drag queen's sex is male, but gender is woman; she IS a woman.

As you may have surmised, notions of gender are socially constructed; that is, society created the categories of man and woman and decided what looked/sounded/felt/seemed masculine and what looked/sounded/felt/seemed feminine.

Transgender Refers to those whose gender expression or identity transgresses socially assigned gender roles or expectation, or who do not identify as either of the two sexes as currently defined. Transgender is a broad term that includes transsexuals, cross-dressers, drag queens/kings, transgender butch, and a variety of other identities. When referring to transgender people, use they pronoun the have designated as appropriate, or the one that is consistent with their presentation of themselves. If an individual’s gender expression is ambiguous, try to use gender-neutral language or ask that person how she or he prefers to be addressed.

Transsexuals Individuals who do not identify with their birth-assigned genders and sometimes alter their bodies surgically and/or hormonally. The transition (formerly called “sex change”) is a complicated, multi-step process that may take years and may include, but is not limited to, sex reassignment surgery.

Intersex About 1% of children are born with chromosomes, hormones, genitalia and/or other sex characteristics that are not exclusively male or female as defined by the medical establishment in our society. In most cases, these children are at no medical risk, but most are assigned a sex (male or female) by their doctors and/or families and may undergo cosmetic surgery on their sex organs so that they fit society’s idea of “normal.” These procedures sometimes damage the child’s reproductive organs and can emotionally scar them by forcing on them a gender and/or sex role that may not feel natural.