Why Do You Identify As Queer?

**Brian Lehrer** (0:08)
Brian Lehrer on WNYC. And we're going to end today with a call-in for anyone who describes yourself as queer. What does the word signify to you? And do you consider your sexual orientation or gender identity to be a choice?
212-433-WNYC Call or Text. I asked because of a New York Times op-ed last week by a gay married activist named Matthew Vines, author of a book called God and the Gay Christian, The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. His article was called I'm Gay, Not Queer, It Matters. And his basic argument was that as more people describe themselves as queer, it's contributing to an erosion in support for same-sex marriage. I'll read an excerpt in a second. But the question, the invitation is for any of you who do use that word. It's calling for anyone who describes yourself as queer. What does the word signify to you? And do you consider anything about your sexual orientation or gender identity to be a choice?
212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text. And you'll hear as I read from the article, why the question of whether you consider your identity or orientation of choice is so relevant here. Here's part of Matthew Vines' concern in his Times op-ed, and it relates to the idea of it ever being a choice. He writes, quote, the broad support that made marriage equality possible has grown more vulnerable. This is in part because a key message behind it, that being gay is not a choice, is being undermined by those who argue that same-sex orientation is better thought of as part of a wider rebellion against social norms. A wider rebellion against social norms. This worldview, he writes, is best expressed in one word, queer, which is often used interchangeably with gay these days. The two words don't mean the same thing, he writes, and in that difference lies a danger for our hard-fought equality, unquote. Listeners, if you are gay or lesbian or bisexual, do you ever describe yourself as queer? Do you use the Q interchangeably with the L, the G, or the B? And do you consider anything about your sexual orientation or gender identity to be a choice as opposed to who you are inherently? And that's the basis for not being discriminated against.
212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text.
More from the Matthew Vines op-ed, quote, I came out as gay. He writes, in 2010, after being raised in an evangelical church in Wichita, Kansas, where homosexuality was considered a sinful choice, two things helped me change my mind. First was a painstaking study of scripture. All six of the Bible's references to same-sex relations are negative, but the lustful and exploitative same-sex practices those passages describe differ fundamentally from same-sex marriages today that are based on lifelong love and commitment. He continues, the other thing that shaped my view was the public argument for gay rights at the time. The message from leading marriage equality advocates is simple and clear. Being gay is neither chosen nor changeable, and gay people deserve the same legal protections and chance at happiness as everyone else. And he writes, the shift toward queer has been remarkable and has coincided with a broader shift toward polarization in our society over the past 15 years. He writes, in 2009, a majority of gay men and lesbians reported negative feelings about queer with only about one in five gay men viewing it positively. As a result, gay rights leaders and allies largely avoided it. But in 2025, 48 percent of LGBTQ people said they thought of themselves as queer, including nearly 60 percent of those under 30, unquote. So listeners, maybe this is a generational thing.
If you are younger or older in any of the LGBTQ categories, maybe you have a take on that. But the specific invitation here is for anyone who describes yourself as queer, this is for you. What does the word signify to you? Do you consider your sexual orientation or gender identity a choice? And if you've been around for a while, maybe an older millennial or up on this generational question, has your relationship to the word changed over time? 212-433-WNYC. One more stretch from the op-ed. He writes, What's in a word? It's more than just a shift in linguistic fashion. Queer carries an adversarial charge that gay does not. And that charge has a specific intellectual lineage. And he goes into the 1990 activist group called Queer Nation, which published a manifesto that he says, exhorted gay people to call themselves queer. Its rationale was that gay was a much brighter word, and that queer better conveyed the anger and disgust they felt at how society treated gay people as marginal others. So you get the question.