Queer theory

A queer thing happened at a recent May Day protest. But the queerest bit was how it was reported.

The Dissociated Press produced its annual tear-stained "news" story about how few immivasion activists showed up for the Gimme Citizenship Festival. However, a rival Victim Group™ swelled the protester numbers by at least one.

ATLANTA (AP) — While a black preacher told about 100 immigration protesters that incarcerated blacks and detained immigrants faced similar challenges, Jesse Morgan stood to one side of the May Day demonstrators, holding a large sign that read "Radical Queers Resist."

Although the rally was geared toward illegal immigrants, the 24-year-old Georgia State sociology major said gays can relate, too, because they often face discrimination.

"And besides," he said. "There are queers who are undocumented."

Undocumented queers! If a county fair offered a blue ribbon to the first prize politically correct identity, that would be a strong contender.

Incidentally, the Dissociated Press does not discriminate against reporters who can't write very well. Take the first sentence: "While a black preacher told about 100 immigration protesters that incarcerated blacks and detained immigrants ... " The syntax had me wondering at first why the immigration protesters had incarcerated blacks and detained others of their persuasion. 

But there was yet more queerness.

At the news aggregation (or aggravation) site Lucianne.com, the story's opening was quoted:

ATLANTA — While a black preacher told 100 immigration protesters that incarcerated blacks and detained immigrants faced similar challenges, Jesse Morgan stood to one side of the May Day demonstrators, holding a large sign that read "Radical Q****s Resist." Although the rally was geared toward illegal immigrants, the 24-year-old Georgia State sociology major said gays can relate, too, because they often face discrimination. "And besides," he said. "There are q****s who are undocumented." 

So the original story apparently deemed "queer" too insensitive to print, like n****r ... even though it was a self-described q****r who used the word. The story is now slugged "Updated 09:32 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2012."

But in the interim, either the Dissociated Press or Chron.com -- the latter a derivative of the San Francisco Chronicle -- must have changed its proto-mind about whether the Q word was derogatory. After all, a lot of the Chronicle readers are proud to bear the title of queer, or undocumented queer.

One hopes the non-queer undocumented invaders, in Jesse Morgan's phrase, "could relate."