The Influence of English on Neologisms for Nonbinary Gender Identities and Sexual Orientations in Quebec French: Between Variation and Purism

Abstract

This article creates a portrait of recent designations of nonbinary gender identities and sexual orientations in Quebec French. It addresses how purism and the condemnation of anglicisms played a part in this vocabulary. The most frequent neologisms in the French press in Quebec are LBGT* and queer. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), Quebec’s official language institution, first condemned queer because of Quebec’s sensitive history with anglicisms and created allosexuel and altersexuel to replace it. However, these terms were found to be artificial and were not very successful, bringing the OQLF the change its initial normative judgment on queer, which is now accepted. More than the negative attitude toward anglicisms in Quebec, what played a major role in the circulation of those neologisms is the need for traditionally dominated groups to gain symbolic power by choosing their own labels, especially those used in a variety of languages worldwide, strengthening the sense of identity and belonging of historically marginalized groups and individuals.