Some people use queer as an umbrella term for LGBTI+ while others use it to refer to identities that can’t be contained by categories such as gay and lesbian. In both cases, queer is used as a noun that has been reclaimed from its former use as an abusive term.

Queer is also used as a verb: ‘to queer’. Queer/ing is a way of making ideas and ideals that are largely taken for granted, strange; of turning them on their heads, of undermining their authority.

So, for example, we could argue that male and female should be matters of self-determination rather than biology, or we could queer the idea of binary gender. Or we could argue for the right of queer people to marry, but we could also queer the institution of marriage.

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE 1 NOVEMBER 2017