ALGBTICAL

Its usage is considered controversial and underwent substantial changes over the course of the 20th century with some LGBT people reclaiming the term as a means of self-empowerment.

The term is still considered by some to be offensive and derisive, and by others as a re-appropriated term used to describe a sexual orientation and/or gender identity or gender expression that does not conform to heteronormative society.

In contemporary usage, some use queer as an inclusive, unifying sociopolitical, self-affirming umbrella term for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, transsexual, intersexual, genderqueer, or of any other non-heterosexual sexuality, sexual anatomy, or gender identity.

It can also include asexual and autosexual people, as well as gender normative heterosexuals whose sexual orientations or activities place them outside the heterosexual-defined mainstream (e.g. BDSM practitioners or polyamorous persons). Queer in this sense (depending on how broadly it is defined) is commonly used as a synonym for such terms as LGBT.

LINKS:

Wikipedia: Queer
Wikipedia: Faggot
Urban Dictionary: Queer

DEFINITION
Discussion of Meaning

According to Merriam-Webster...

Queer as a term referring to homosexuals or gay and lesbian people was often disparaging and sometimes offensive.

Over the past two decades, an important change has occurred in the use of queer. The older, strongly pejorative use has certainly not vanished, but a use by some gay people and some academics as a neutral or even positive term has established itself. This development is most noticeable in the adjective but is reflected in the corresponding noun as well.

The newer use is sometimes taken to be offensive, especially by older gay men who fostered the acceptance of gay in these uses and still have a strong preference for it.

Because of the context in which it was reclaimed, queer has sociopolitical connotations, and is often preferred by those who are activists, by those who strongly reject traditional gender identities, by those who reject distinct sexual identities such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight, and by those who see themselves as oppressed by the heteronormativity of the larger culture.

In this usage it retains the historical connotation of "outside the bounds of normal society" and can be construed as "breaking the rules for sex and gender." It can be preferred because of its ambiguity, which allows "queer"-identifying people to avoid the sometimes strict boundaries that surround other labels. In this context, "queer" is not a synonym for LGBT as it creates a space for "queer" heterosexuals as well as "non-queer" homosexuals.

DEROGATORY TERMS
Offensive Words

"Fag" or "faggot" are slang terms that are considered to be pejorative and offensive to gay and lesbian people. The use of these words is intended as an epithet or slur, meant to demean or insult.

Similarly, slang expressions like "homo," "fairy," and "dyke" are considered to be derogatory. Referring to gay and lesbian people as "sodomites," "deviates," "pedophiles," or "perverts" is clearly meant as an insult.

Often such disparaging language is part of the hate speech used by bullies to verbally abuse, harass and threaten those they consider to be gay or lesbian. Such vocabulary is also used by hate groups and other ideological organizations to intimidate, defame or vilify gay and lesbian people.

Additionally, using the word "gay" as a general insult is disrespectful and offensive, as in the expression, "That's so gay," in which the speaker uses the term "gay" to mean "bad" or "stupid."

Queer Theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. It is a kind of interpretation devoted to queer readings of texts. Heavily influenced by the work of Michel Foucault, queer theory builds both upon feminist challenges to the idea that gender is part of the essential self and upon gay/lesbian studies' close examination of the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities. Whereas gay/lesbian studies focused its inquiries into "natural" and "unnatural" behavior with respect to homosexual behavior, queer theory expands its focus to encompass any kind of sexual activity or identity that falls into normative and deviant categories.

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