Yesterday, I had the experience of a boy whom I haven't seen in about two years text me, and after some conversation, tell me that he liked me. I replied, telling him basically that, while I think he's great, I'm queer. He thought that I meant strange and not homosexual, and ended up thinking that I liked him back. I'm still at the very beginning of coming out, and I'm wondering if using the word queer is straightforward.
It isn't. While I've started using queer on EC I do not use it outside of the forums as it's really rarely understood by those around me unless they're involved in the gay community or suspect I'm not straight. They may call people queer, and they may use it as an insult, but sometimes it goes over their head when someone (particularly female someones) use it when referring to themselves. It appears straight forward to those who use it when referring to those who are anything but heterosexual, but really unless they have an inkling that you're not straight it's throwing another word at a sometimes uninitiated public that they interpret as you saying you're a little strange rather than a reference to your sexuality.
I think it depends on the area you're in. I'm in a liberal college setting and here, "queer" basically means "non-cishet". In many other areas and in certain spaces on the internet, that is also how "queer" is seen. Queer, however can mean a lot of different things for different people, so if you're talking to straight people using something like "sorry, I don't like _____" might be plainer for them to understand.
