Queerplatonic Relationship

A commonly used queerplatonic flag.

Queerplatonic relationship, also called a quasiplatonic relationship, quirkyplatonic relationship, or qplatonic relationship (abbreviated QPR), is an umbrella term for any relationship that bends the rules for telling apart romantic relationships from non-romantic relationships.

Another common queerplatonic flag.

In some societies, hard lines are drawn between appropriate behavior for a romance compared to a friendship. For example, cultural norms might say that romantic partners are more physically affectionate or more emotionally close than friends are, as well as more likely to partner in major life activities such as buying a house or raising a child together.

Wherever those lines are blurred, that relationship can be called queerplatonic. For example, queerplatonic relationships can include friendships and ambiguously-romantic relationships that go beyond friendship norms in emotional intensity, physical affection, or other areas. Some queerplatonic partners also live together or get married. Queerplatonic relationships can look different for everyone, depending on what the people involved are comfortable with.

A queerplatonic relationship can be monogamous or polyamorous, involving more than two people. Pursuing a queerplatonic relationship is not necessarily mutually exclusive with pursuing romantic relationships, and the term is not restricted to any identity category.

People in queerplatonic relationships might refer to each other as their queerplatonic partner (QPP) or as "zucchini", a term that was originally a joke in the a-spec community about lacking a word to properly describe the term, so they could just use any word they want, like zucchini.

Queerplatonic Attraction

Queerplatonic attraction is a form of attraction experienced mainly, but not exclusively, by a-spec people. Queerplatonic attraction can be very similar to platonic attraction and alterous attraction. For some people these types of attraction greatly overlap and they do not make any distinction between them. For others they may feel like there is a clear distinction between these feelings. A queerplatonic crush can be called a plush.

Someone who does not experience queerplatonic attraction or does not desire queerplatonic relationships may call themself aqueerplatonic. Queerplatonic attraction is not a requirement for a QPR, though. Some aqueerplatonic people may still want or have queerplatonic relationship, they just do not get plushes. Other aqueerplatonic might not desire a queerplatonic relationship. They may also identify as nonamorous.

History

The term queerplatonic originated among asexuals to describe an ambiguous category outside the strict categories of romance and friendship. The term was first used by Meloukhia in the comment section of a 2010 Dreamwidth post. In 2011, Meloukhia, also known as S. E. Smith, introduced the term on Tumblr.

Symbolism

Currently, there is no consensus on queerplatonic symbolism. At least four different flag designs have been proposed for queerplatonic. Most of these flags use the colors yellow and pink. Yellow is commonly used to symbolize platonic relationships. Pink is possibly use because it is a light form of red, which is commonly used to represent romantic attraction, showing that queerplatonic relationships can sometimes resemble romantic relationships but that they are different nonetheless.