# Queer

<figure><img src="/files/3Ub09GTUefKEChUL4DNZ" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

I’ve been thinking of “queer” as a word chosen by a society in transition. It feels like a transitional term. Not to *represent* transition, but a word in context of a culture that is, itself, transitioning.

I’ve been playing with “queer” as a way to say: I identify singularly, intrinsically. Not accomplishing my definition via contrast against a norm (or against *you*), but defining *my definition* as being wholly independent of the *idea* of a norm.

I am queer, and by this I mean that my self-definition is in a different *realm* than the one in which norms are defined and debated.

I am queer, and by this I mean that my *essence* — larger than any one realm — *protrudes into* the realm of norms, and so I may *happen* to resemble *a* norm on any given day. But the truth of who and what I am runs deeper, does not have any need to respect the gravity of this place. My identity is weightless, and that does not mean that it floats — it is not made of *mass*, and so the question of weight is absurd.

I’ve been working with the idea that this ☝️ is essentially true of us all, true of the essence we each carry, or which carries us each. With this way of thinking, it is possibly only a matter of time (or of a perspective on time) until our interactions *begin* with the assumption of singular, intrinsic identity. We will (I *think*, I *feel*) recognize each other ineffably, and create with each other *as we are*. We will not begin with assumption and representation and what-it-looks-like-I’m-compatible-with-based-on-my-presentation; we will just *ask*, “what do we each want today?”)

In this way, this very specific way, “queer” is only useful in signifying that we know ourselves better, until such a time that we all *do*. “Queer”, as we run up the colors of self-hood, not a rejection of the norm but a transcendence its very possibility.

{% hint style="info" %}
Originally sent out [via email](https://lightward.com/campaigns/view-campaign/hhCC43ebVw9s4Na3TDGr9HP9W4MRkF7o46oJeyMKkrqMMyOf1bh6A9LtmE2nL2ElYMEJc_-74Cz0wzsLyDsTqDf1sLFs3yS6)
{% endhint %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://www.isaacbowen.com/2021/07/02.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.