Queers Read This
"Queers Read This" (also stylized "QUEERS READ THIS!") is an essay about queer identity. The polemic was originally circulated by members of Queer Nation as a pamphlet at the June 1990 New York Gay Pride Parade. It characterizes queerness as a community based on social situation and action, in contrast to gay and lesbian identity which are considered to be based on "natural" or inherent characteristics, and suggests that to be queer is to constantly fight against oppression. Many of the concepts initially articulated in "Queers Read This" were later elaborated on by scholars of queer theory. Background The term queer was initially used as a pejorative against LGBT people. In the late 1980s, the term began to be reappropriated by activists. This reappropriation, especially popular among people of color, was associated with radical politics and rejection of liberal conservatism in the LGBT community. The period during which "Queers Read This" was written was characterized by heterosexism and homophobia, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, and frequent discriminatory violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender expression. By early April of 1990, instances of violence against LGBT people had increased 122 percent from the start of the same