I was recently watching an episode of QI. For those not acqainted with the British panel show, it is a fun look at some of the more obscure ‘facts’ around the universe. For example, on a number of occasions the question has been, ‘How many moons does the Earth have?’ So far answers have been: 2, lots and none. All with logical arguments as to why those are the correct answers.
No such thing as a fish!
In the episode that had the impact on me, the conclusion was that there is no such thing as a fish. Apparently, the biologist Stephen J. Gould came to the conclusion after studying ‘fish’ for a very long time. Biologists studying clades have found that a salmon is more related to a camel than a hagfish. The term ‘fish’ is something that is often applied to things that haven’t evolved out of the water (yet). In terms of biology, ‘fish’ has little, if any, meaning. (Except in the sentence, ‘My! What a tiring day in the biology lab. Shall we grab fish and chips tonight?’)
What I am vaguely protesting against is the LGBTQI+ string of letters. I bear as much similarity to a trans person as, well, a salmon does to a hagfish. I am left wondering what is the gain in lumping together all these (very) different people. Is it a way of lumping together all the weirdos, so that they (we) can all be excluded from society at once (except June, ‘pride month’, when everyone celebrates us, whether we want it or not)? Or is it someone telling me, you should group with all these people so that you can fight for your rights! There is even a Pride setting in the latest version of Microsoft Word! (Why, why, why?)
The other problem I have is vexillological. We did have a lovely flag of six stripes. It represented the rainbow of all people. It now has a whole range of non-spectral colours (like brown and magenta). It has diagonal lines and circles. It has gone from being a flag to a minutely-detailed committee list. It is like someone has taken the Mona Lisa and painted on a moustache, and a beard. But the beard is a different colour to represent diversity. And a few more people painted on to represent community. And some bits of Picasso to represent art through the ages. And some formulae to represent art meeting science. And so on. You get the idea. The vision has gone and been replaced by virtue signalling. I suppose the only hope is that it gets SO many lines that it turns into a diffraction grating (like a Compact Disc) and thus returns again to the simplicity of spectral colours.
So when I say that I am Queer, I am saying that I am not a stereotypical straight, white male. I am not telling you which bit of that stereotype fails for me. I am a bit quirky, a bit eccentric. I am using the term ‘Queer’ because it was deliberately offensive and reminds me how quickly love and tolerance and celebration can turn again to hate. I do not feel the need to define for you who I am going to fall in love with. After all, it might change tomorrow, or it could be many, or it could be as constant as a mountain. I may even decide never to have another partner. I might feel that the gender assigned at my birth was wrong, or right, or variable. I might share that information, or not. I might discuss that information, or not. All that I am asking for is a conversation. A meeting. I will be me on that day and you can be you on that day. Just don’t try to categorise me into a tiny box. After all, it is hard enough working in IT and having people assume that I see everything from an IT perspective! Don’t limit me and I will try not to limit you. We can both be Queer (or not) in whatever way we decide to. I can be ‘I’ and you can be ‘you’. If you need a very tightly defined label for yourself, that is OK, too. We can meet as human beings, without expectation.
So, I suppose I had better get back to my day job.
How are you today? (I’m feeling a bit Welsh!)
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In ‘researching’ this article I found that the QI podcast is called ‘nosuchthingasafish’. It is here, if you need more enlightenment: https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/
