What are 'queer themes'?

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Serious question.

I used to brush the idea off as empty token buzzwords, but it just dawned on me that it might be a legitimate thing...and since I've never read any modern literature (which is a little horrifying to think about...) I probably have no idea what they are. ^^; I'd like to, though; if only for future analysis purposes.

[Pony_wearing_a_hat]

Okay, I'm not sure how accurate this is but here goes:

Some people use the term to just describe queer people in a story, but I don't think that is really what it means, because a queer person just existing isn't really a theme.

I think a queer theme is, to put it simply: elements of a work that represent or at least mirror experiences common in the queer community. elements that can range from coming out and same sex crushes/relationships, to just ideas like found family and nonconforming gender expression. This is why the phrase can pop up in relation to works that don't actually have any explicitly queer elements. Hope this is accurate! (oh, also a theme usually don't take up the entirety of a work, so a story entirely about the queer element may not get the phrase used around it as much.)

[Johnny]

Queer themes is an umbrella term for anything LGBTQ+ or that deals with identity that isn't seen as 'normal'. So, think series that have gay leads or certain representations in said community.

[darthmongoose]

Like anything involving literary analysis, queer themes are somewhat up for interpretation, but things I'd consider to have "queer themes" might have:

• Protagonists who need to hide some part of themselves because they're afraid of how society, or even their own family might react if they don't make an effort to conform, even though that doesn't come naturally to them. For example, a lot of queer people read Elsa from Frozen as queer coded. "Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know... well now they know... Let it go!" In other words, Let it go can come across as a "coming out" song.
• Characters who look like normal people but have some natural quirk that causes people to oppress them. The mutants in the X-men series, especially the old X-men movies, were often heavily queer-coded, especially in that one scene in Bobby's house in X-2 where his mum says "have you tried...not being a mutant?"
• Explorations of gender nonconformity. Witch Boy, while it is a comic by a lesbian, contains no explicitly queer elements, but reads like it has queer themes because it's about a young boy from a family where the men become tough shapeshifters and the women become more academic witches, but he is talented at witchcraft and wants to become a witch. The boy also doesn't enjoy traditionally masculine hobbies, doesn't get on with the other boys in his community but instead befriends a local girl.

[Pony_wearing_a_hat]

Ah, thank you for this. I was trying to explain the whole "queer themes without actual explicit queer character" thing, and I think you really excelled where I couldn't!

[Macarenaoftime]

While reading through this question came up to me:

Can something have queer characters but no queer themes?

[Inspector_Spinda]

im fairly certain yes. if the main character is simply dating the same sex or anything like that, but it's not really discussed at all (basically just like a straight romance). or LGBT people simply exist without discussion about things specific to them, there are no queer themes.

correct me if im wrong

[Macarenaoftime]

Thanks for the answer that's what I first thought at first but I wasn't really sure.