It didn't take long for the room to realize that I was looking for answers to some very specific questions, but then again, these are people who have known me for several months, even years. My first interviewee's schedule and mine did not mesh in a way that would allow for a "guided conversation" and I was hesitant to go the route of a cyber interview. Ultimately, I chose to turn my (fairly) normal Saturday night into a sociological journey into our collective high school experiences around the "queer spectrum." During the conversation I focused on Joe Messa and this summary will reflect that focus, but throughout the evening I found an interesting experience coming not only from Joe but also from others present this evening- there, including my partner Leo Goodson and his best friend (and Joe's boyfriend) Mathew. Parks. Joe's experience throughout high school and within his own peer group would be best reflected in a combination of the River High Gay-Straight Alliance and the drama department where acting and gender bending took on new meanings not only for those involved but for the network as a whole. high school in general. Being part of the “geek and artsy” crowd in one’s high school expression was seen not so much as self-expression but as “artistic expression” in general. Perhaps it was this behavior in particular that helped Joe escape the “specter of queerness” as Pascoe describes it. It's worth mentioning that overall, Joe isn't easily identified as feminine or gay - the two main uses of the word "queer", but as our conversation continued we realized it could still go further than sexuality or even gender expression. all of our experiences were unique but had a striking similarity...... middle of paper ...... further reflects the dominance/passivity relationship found in the male/female dichotomy. Our community, as open-minded as it tries to be, conforms to the hegemonic ideologies of the larger society to which we wish to be equal by equating masculine and feminine ideals and the inevitable power plays involved - this truly shows the hidden power of patriarchy. Basically, we all agreed that this phenomenon was only loosely linked to homophobia and that it had found a more stable and conflicted place within the male/female or male/female dichotomy. My final question of the evening was, “Should we, as a community, try to reclaim the word “queer?” » I think Joe hit the nail on the head when he said, "It may be too early to reclaim the word and given its new place in the patriarchy, it should probably just fall into the history books."..”