Post Queer Theory
Post Queer Theory is the idea that we live in a Post Queer Society, where labels such as "gay", "straight" or "bi-sexual" are no longer given any credibility. Fundamentally it is about good manners and an open mind.
Homosexuality has existed within nature as long as life itself. Instances of gay penguins, giraffes, spiders and hosts of other creatures are widely documented. The bitch labrador of my youth, Sasha, was unequivocally and hilariously lesbian. Sexual attraction to one’s own sex is something the majority of people have experienced at some point in their lives. But we don’t indulge it, because that would be gay.
The idea that human sexuality is a spectrum is nothing new. Some people are fundamentally straight. Others are totally gay. But many of us drift up and down the spectrum over the course of our lives, fancying guys one moment and girls the next. At the moment, what label is there for us? Bi-sexual? It’s not that simple. These terms are too rigid to do justice to the broad, diverse and ever-fluctuating spectrum of human sexuality. They lock people onto a certain section, and people should be free.
This system of categorising people as "gay" or "straight" or "bi" satisfies our human desire to put people in boxes and better understand them. But it is catastrophic for liberal human existence. The word "gay" has been dragged through the muck by the mainstream who use it to mean "bad". Lesbians are all butch dykes and bi people are just greedy. The labels that once liberated now pigeon-hole people instead, and the hole is small, smelly and full of shit.
In a Post Queer Society, many people are "straight" whilst others are "gay" and quite a few are "bisexual". But we don’t label ourselves. There is no such thing as "coming out", because people and parents accept that normality is not heterosexual. People keep an open mind, appreciating the beautiful diversity of humanity. And if someone is "gay" we don’t point and scoff, or shiver with repulsion; our manners are better than that.
Post Queer Theory doesn’t call for massive social change. It simply asks people to be respectful and open minded. Already amongst the liberal youth, Post Queer Theory exists - albeit without a name. It is present in the willing acceptance of diversity that is so commonplace nowadays. The age of labels died when gay couples could legally marry in this country (by the way, can we all start calling Civil Partnerships marriage? The only difference is the name!). Gay people are accepted now after centuries of intolerance. Let’s recognise that we’re all human, all sexual yet all very different. Let’s be open-minded and good mannered; let’s all be Post Queer!