Here's Why HuffPost Gay Voices Changed Its Name to HuffPost Queer Voices Noah Michelson - The Huffington Post
go to original February 2, 2016

We're Here! We're Queer! Get Into It! (Photofusion/UIG via Getty Images)

Our name change comes four-and-a-half years after we originally debuted as HuffPost Gay Voices - and after countless conversations with countless people, both inside and outside of the HuffPost newsroom.

Though I've had my own love affair with the word "queer" for as long as I can remember, at the time of our launch in 2011 some people felt that the term was too controversial, too divisive and, because of its history as a slur, perhaps just too painful to use.

Instead, we settled on HuffPost Gay Voices (you can read more about how that decision was reached here). Though it wasn't my first choice, I have to admit, at the time, there was something radical about seeing that instantly recognizable three-letter word proudly emblazoned on one of the most-read websites in the world.

A lot has changed since then - from marriage equality sweeping the nation and parts of the world to Laverne Cox gracing the cover of Time magazine to Miley Cyrus coming out as pansexual - and we believe that this is an especially critical time for queer people and the queer movement to regroup and redefine its mission in the wake of these incredible, once unimaginable changes to the political and cultural landscape. We hope that HuffPost Queer Voices can be a place where discussions about where we're headed, what matters to us and how we can become the best possible, most authentic versions of ourselves as queer people - and as a community - can take place on a daily basis.

We, like many others before us, have chosen to reclaim "queer" and to rename the section HuffPost Queer Voices because we believe that word is the most inclusive and empowering one available to us to speak to and about the community - and because we are inspired by all of the profound possibilities it holds for self-discovery, self-realization and self-affirmation. We also revere its emphasis on intersectionality, which aids in creating, building and sustaining community while striving to bring about the liberation of all ?marginalized people, queer or not.

"Queer" functions as an umbrella term that includes not only the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people of "LGBT," but also those whose identities fall in between, outside of or stretch beyond those categories, including genderqueer people, intersex people, asexual people, pansexual people, polyamorous people and those questioning their sexuality or gender, to name just a few. These groups have been and will continue to be featured on The Huffington Post, however now the section dedicated to these identities will be inclusive not only in scope but also in name.

Read the rest at The Huffington Post

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