Why do we refer to homo***ual men & women as "queer"?

[ClaretinBudapest]

Definition of the word queer. / (kwɪə) / adjective. differing from the normal or usual in a way regarded as odd or strange. suspicious, dubious, or shady.

Wanting to shove your poker up another mans back door can only be described as queer.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Definition of the word queer. / (kwɪə) / adjective. differing from the normal or usual in a way regarded as odd or strange. suspicious, dubious, or shady.

Wanting to shove your poker up another mans back door can only be described as queer.

One way of looking at it barátom.

[outwoodclaret]

Anyone who watched Arthur Atkinson on The Fast Show will remember his catchphrases “Where’s me washboard?” and “How Queer!”. Describing something or someone as gay seems anodyne but describing someone rather than something as queer may be less so. Brendan Behan wrote the play “The Quare Fellow” and that referenced something other than homo***uality.

[sinkov]

I have this idea that 'confirmed bachelor' was a euphemism for homo***ual back in the day.