Queerness is natural. Whether one refers to non-heterosexuality, or to behaviors that defy what one might expect from animals with two sexes, there are examples of these things among non-human animals. We have known about queerness in animals, which is extensive, for decades. We also know of many animals who prove that sex, in the biological sense, is not a rigid thing but more a spectrum. The point here is that queerness is not limited to humans, it exists in the natural world in as many ways, more actually, than it exists in human societies. Understanding that queerness is found in nature in every sense helps people understand that our behaviors, our feelings are not unnatural or new. This is an important point for many who feel worried about queerness and for many who want to understand whether or not what they feels is somehow an indication that something in them is different or even wrong somehow. Queerness is every bit as beautiful, natural, and normal, as non-queerness. People who believe otherwise are, in the very best of scenarios, merely ignorant of the realities of queerness, or, at worst, bad faith actors determined to make you feel less than, broken, or wrong.
Some of the oldest know examples of human queerness go back millennia with one example being a male skeleton in the modern-day Czech Republic who was found buried with items that were previously only found in female graves. The grave is dated to the Copper Age, a time period spanning several centuries going all the way back to 2500-2900 years ago. Beyond this, there is also the case of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, who were Egyptians who served royals who were buried together and strongly seem to be a gay couple, though there are a range of historians, archeologists, and Egyptologists who have differing takes here. What’s worth noting about these individuals is that they are simply some of the oldest known instances of queer people, and it is very probable that much older examples have yet to be discovered. Beyond what has previously been said, there are countless examples of queer couples in ancient art, and same-sex relationships have artwork that is millennia-old such as Mesopotamian art. Beyond that, however, is the glabal nature of queerness with examples not just being found in ancient Europe and the ancient Middle East, but also in the pre-Columbian Americas and Africa as the article form Arts and Culture beautifully illustrates. This is significant because it painstakingly shows the ubiquity fo queerness. Being queer is a fundamentally human and positively ancient expression of ourselves, one that transcends individual cultures and singular points in time. Queerness is organic and while no two cultures have exactly the same examples of queer people and queer identities, the simple undeniable reality is that queerness is positively ancient and is a fundamental part of humanity throughout our history.
Queerness
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities. It is alternately used to erfer to people who reject sexual and gender norms and share radical politics characterized by solidarity across line of identity. Queer is also a self-identity term for many people (similar to but distinct from gay, lesbian, and bisexual), characterized by rejection or disruption of binary categories of sexual orientation and gender.
Originally meaning ‘strange’ or ‘peculiar’, queer came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to reclaim the word as a neutral or positive self-description. In the 21st century, queer became increasingly used to describe a broad spectrum of non-heteronormative sexual or gender identities and politics. Academic disciplies such as queer theory and queer studies have emerged to examine a wide variety of issues, either informed by this type of perspective, or to examine the lives of LGBTQ people. These share a general opposition to binarism, normativity, and a perceived lack of intersectionality, some of them connected only tangentially to the LGBTQ movement.
