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Straight-acting is a term for LGBT individuals who do not exhibit the typical appearance or mannerisms of what is seen as stereotypically gay. Although the label is used by and reserved almost exclusively for gay men and bisexuality men, it may also be used to describe lesbian or bisexual women exhibiting a typically lipstick lesbian appearance and mannerisms. Since the term invokes negative LGBT stereotypes of gay people, its application is often controversial and may cause offense. Acting Straight An alternative term for men is simply masculine.
Sex advice columnist Dan Savage commented on the popularity of the term "straight-acting" in gay personal ads, criticizing both the practice and the idea that a man seeking a gay relationship through a gay personal ad is acting straight. Defenders of the term maintain it refers merely to one's mannerisms and that critics' isolation of the word "acting" in the phrase distorts the intended meaning of the phrase. Use of the term itself has been labeled as damaging to the LGBT community, as it associates certain attributes with homosexuality.
Men who use the expression "straight-acting" may express resentment that critics claim the term implies they are acting and not being their true selves.
QUASH
Queers United Against Straight Acting Homosexuals (QUASH) was the organization in Chicago that published an often cited article in their newsletter in 1993, titled "Assimilation is Killing Us Fight For a Queer United Front." The article calls for a new order in our gendered social systems to be inclusive and not exclude anyone from liberation, challenging the power and privilege of the dominant members of society. An article similar to "Assimilation is Killing Us", published a year later, entitled, QUASH, still standing for Queers United Against Straight-Acting Homosexuals, used the same concept of rejection of the established gendered protocols, specifically, that there can be varied and better institutions than couplehood and marriage.
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