"Smear the Queer"

At North Whidbey Junior High, in Oak Harbor, Washington, we couldn't wait to get outside and play our favorite game, "Smear the Queer." We were required to spend the first ten minutes in the lunchroom, after which, we rushed the door to get out onto the field. In seventh and eighth grade, I played; in ninth grade I watched.

The champion from the day before started the rouse off by running with a Frisbee. He ran like the Dickens, chased by a multitude of others vehemently in pursuit of his coveted Frisbee. To steal the Frisbee, they had to tackle him--smear him--before he threw the Frisbee to one of his teammates. The ultimate objective of the game was to be the last person standing with the Frisbee when the bell rang signaling the end of the lunch-period and the end of the day's game.

As I wrote this, I became curious if this game was one we made up, or if it was truly real. It IS! Check this Urban Dictionary entry: (from CB2000 @ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=smear%20the%20queer)

~Mama

"Smear the Queer" is a childhood game of tag involving an object that is held by the "it" kid until he is tackled and forced to give it up.

"Smear the Queer" How it Works: The kid who has the ball (or stick, or balled up shirt, or whatever object is used) is "it" and therefore the "queer". The rest of the kids chase the "it" kid down until he is tackled (usually in a dog pile fashion). The caught kid then tosses the object away where the other kids gather around it and wait to see who has the guts to pick it up and start running. There is a big advantage to being quick on the pickup so as to get a better running start. There are no scores and no one "wins". It is a childhood game of bravado designed to blow off boyhood energy.

Note #1: I use the masculine to describe the participants because I have yet to meet a woman who's played this game.

Note #2: The use of the word "queer" is not homophobic in this game. It's used as catchy name to describe the game. The "queer" in this sense is just the kid who's it. Because it's completely voluntary to be the "queer", and being the "queer" requires a certain amount of bravery, it is not used in the derogatory in this this particular usage.