Queer Studies

Reese Carey Kelly

Queer studies is an emerging interdisciplinary academic subject that combines empirical research and theoretical accounts of gender and sexuality. The term queer characterizes both the object of study as well as the unique theoretical approach developed within this perspective. Many scholars use queer as shorthand for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgen-dered people and communities. The term is often used instead of the terms gay or lesbian or the acronym LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) to represent the variety of ways in which people experience their gendered and sexual selves. For many, hearing the term gay evokes an image of a white, upper-class, college-educated man and his political and social interests, which represents only a minor fraction of sexual minorities. On the other hand, the term queer may suggest a range of identities from a black non-operative transgender prostitute to a bisexual domina-trix to an intersexed child. The open nature of ...

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