Whenever nature is invoked to support our human divisions, [we have] every right to be suspicious, nature having betrayed

only the most perplexing and untrustworthy interest in man and none whatsoever in his institutions.
-- James Baldwin, "Preservation of Innocence"

It is the class struggle between men and women which will abolish men and women . . . If we, as lesbians and gay men, continue to speak of ourselves and to conceive of ourselves as women and as men, we are instrumental in maintaining heterosexuality.
-- Monique Wittig, "The Straight Mind"

Queer has traditionally meant odd or unusual, though modern use often pertains to LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and non-normative heterosexual) people. (Wikipedia)

The term "queer theory" was introduced in 1990, with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, Adrienne Rich and Diana Fuss (all largely following the work of Michel Foucault) being among its foundational proponents. Queer theory is not the same as queer activism, although there is overlap.

Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of gay and lesbian studies and feminist studies. It is a kind of hermeneutics devoted to queer readings of texts.
Heavily influenced by the work of Michel Foucault, queer theory builds both upon feminist challenges to the idea that gender is part of the essential self and upon gay/lesbian studies' close examination of the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities.

Whereas gay/lesbian studies focused its inquiries into "natural" and "unnatural" behavior with respect to homosexual behavior, queer theory expands its focus to encompass any kind of sexual activity or identity that falls into perverted, normative and deviant categories.

Teresa de Lauretis is the person credited with coining the phrase "Queer Theory". It was at a working conference on theorizing lesbian and gay sexualities that was held at the University of California, Santa Cruz in February 1990 that de Lauretis first made mention of the phrase.

Barely three years later, she abandoned the phrase on the grounds that it had been taken over by mainstream forces and institutions it was originally coined to resist. Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's Epistemology of the Closet, and David Halperin's One Hundred Years of Homosexuality inspired countless others' work.

Queer theorists focus on problems in classifying individuals as either male or female, even on a strictly biological basis. For example, the sex chromosomes (X and Y) may exist in atypical combinations (as in Klinefelter's syndrome [XXY]). This complicates the use of genotype as a means to define exactly two distinct sexes. Intersexed individuals may for many different biological reasons have ambiguous sexual characteristics.

Scientists who have written on the conceptual significance of intersexual individuals include Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ruth Hubbard, Carol Tavris, and Joan Roughgarden. Some key experts in the study of culture, such as Barbara Rogoff, argue that the traditional distinction between biology and culture as independent entities is overly simplistic, pointing to the ways in which biology and culture interact with one another.

Queer theory is likened to language because it is never static, but is everevolving. Richard Norton suggests that the existence of queer language is believed to have evolved from the imposing of structures and labels from an external mainstream culture.

Early discourse of queer theory involved leading theorists: Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and others. This discourse centered on the way that knowledge of sexuality was structured through the use of language. Heteronormativity was the main focus of discourse, where heterosexuality was viewed as normal and any deviations, such as homosexuality, as abnormal or "queer".

In later years there was an explosion of discourse on sexuality and sexual orientations with the coming-of-age of the Internet. Prior to this, discourse was controlled by institutional publishing, and with the growth of the internet and its popularity, the community could have its own discussion on what sexuality and sexual orientation was. Homosexual and heterosexual were no longer the main topics of discourse; BDSM, transgender and bisexuality became topics of discourse.

 Brokeback

Mountain is an exemplary queer film

Brokeback Mountain (2005) is a movie about a pair of teenage cowboys who perform a homosexual act during a time of prolonged seclusion from others (particularly from females). Afterwards, they part ways and marry beautiful, dedicated and loving women. But four years later, their past comes to haunt them and destroys not only their lives but the innocent lives of their wives and children. Audiences witness the families torn asunder in waves of agonizing revelations, as the men continue to meet periodically, telling their wives they are going fishing.

Brokeback Mountain became the "buzz" that everyone was talking about in 2005 and people were admonished for not having seen it and not being "openminded" to a "different" love story. In that respect, the advertising concealed the theme of homosexuality from the public, merely referring to it as a modern day "love story" and concentrating on the appealing rugged cowboy element and picturesque landscapes.

Queer theory is a branch of modern literary criticism that attempts to analyze traditional interpretations of gender in literature with a new assumption that gender is not dichotomously defined. The goal is destroy traditional gender roles and encourage heterosexuals to explore homosexual experiences.

Queer theorists believe, or perhaps simply wish others to believe, that there is a continuum in gender or sexuality, that one can fluidly shift along the spectrum and that gender confusion occurs as a natural phenomenon. Such a perspective entails a degradation of the traditional nature of these concepts, and encourages the acceptance of homosexuality as a "normal" variant.

It is a misnomer to call this literary criticism a theory since no scientific data supports it -- it is simply interpretation of fiction. Therefore it cannot be disproved, violating one of the maxims for being a theory.