Geek Out!

Editor’s Note

The word, “geek” means different things to different people. Merriam-Webster defines it as: “An enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity.” MacMillan defines it as: “Someone who is boring.” Oxford defines it as: “An unfashionable and socially inept person” and “A knowledgable and obsessive enthusiast.”*

“Queer” is even more nebulous a term, if that’s possible. Formerly signifying the mere difference of a person or group from the norm, it has evolved to apply to specific differences of sexuality and gender-identity. Despite this distinction, however, an enormous overlap obviously exists between the two terms. 

Many people who self-identify as queer also self-identify as geeks. For that matter, so too are many people labeled queer by others also perceived as geeks. The commonality, if it can be pared down to a single factor, is a lack of belonging. Being queer and being a geek are each belonging to a group distinguished by its failure to belong, or to fit the dominant paradigm. In their own realms, they—we—are each, alone, together, living in society’s margins.

The Urban Dictionary defines “geek out” as: “The act of becoming emotionally and physically aroused by the sight or the thought of a technicality of a certain topic of major interest. It resembles an ‘orgasm of the mind’.“ For the writers and artists here, it may be science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale, westerns, fanfic or experimental poetry. It may be opera, drag, synesthesia, urban planning or board games. For all of us involved in this book, it is also a play on words, suggesting queer geeks coming out as both. So what do you geek out about? 

This book and all subsequent volumes in this series are dedicated to all the wild and wonderful geeks, freaks, nerds, dweebs, outcasts and, yes, queers out there in the world. This means you.

—Sage Kalmus, Editor