I first came to know the word “queer” when I was 12, as I sashayed around the car to help my mother unload groceries. I said some sassy comment, some quip. She lifted her head, looked at me, and said, “Don’t act queer.” I can still feel the sting of her words.How remarkable that, just a few years later, a generation of people would come to use a word once associated with so much hate and violence to arm ourselves. Today, the word “queer” is a way for us to create space for those who have been othered by the LGBTQ+ rights movement, by social norms and customs, and by outdated notions...… I first came to know the word “queer” when I was 12, as I sashayed around the car to help my mother unload groceries. I said some sassy comment, some quip. She lifted her head, looked at me, and said, “Don’t act queer.” I can still feel the sting of her words.How remarkable that, just a few years later, a generation of people would come to use a word once associated with so much hate and violence to arm ourselves. Today, the word “queer” is a way for us to create space for those who have been othered by the LGBTQ+ rights movement, by social norms and customs, and by outdated notions...WW…