As for the q-word, I can understand the idea behind coopting it. But it doesn't coopt me. I prefer to think of myself as a fag.
Whatever accepting "fag" means, exactly. Was that supposed to be a cute turn of a phrase?
"Fag" always seemed to me an abject hate-word, with no other way to interpret it. "Queer", on the other hand, seemed rooted in a different ethos, and could be taken as a power-word, an exclusion (although the force of it often tipped to the pejorative, but not necessarily).
Whatever the case, terms like "fag" and "dyke" are still used frequently, so if reclaiming has had real impact, it may have been on the receipients, not their abusers.
sullylink
