n the new documentary “Adam Lambert: Out, Loud & Proud,” which aired on British channel ITV last month, out singer Adam Lambert gained deeper insights into queer musical icon Freddie Mercury from Mercury’s bandmates, Roger Taylor and Brian May. Brian May discussed how terms like “queer” have evolved over time. May explained, “The vocabulary has changed a lot. Queer was a word you wouldn’t want to use. I would never have used it to (describe) Freddie, and he would have been upset if we had …. He would’ve said: ‘I’m not queer, I’m normal, darling’” May noted that even today in 2024, describing Mercury as a queer musician feels complex. Mercury would have simply responded, “‘I’m a musician, darling. That’s all I want to tell you.'” Taylor and May also reflected on Mercury’s reluctance to tour the U.S. due to anti-gay stigma and how the States initially resisted the band’s music. May recalled Mercury’s prediction that Queen would not top U.S. charts again until after his death, a prophecy that proved true. Freddie Mercury, a founding member of Queen and writer of hits like “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “We Are the Champions,” died in 1991 of AIDS-related complications at the age of 45. Lambert has been Queen’s lead singer for the past twelve years. The Queen documentary created a significant social media response to the use of ‘queer’. Thousands commented that ‘queer’ is a word that has been reclaimed from its Freddie Mercury era slur. Others noted they can not move beyond the hurt the slur caused to their lives. It should be noted that studies show, for the LGBTQ community, the younger you get the more likely the use of the word ‘queer’ while the older you get, the higher the likelihood of rejection of the word. What’s wrong with Queer, especially as it is used for the name of an LGBTQ daily television show?
