Gorgeous Queer Lady

Why does that word mean what it means? Queer? It used to mean—and in England, is still used to mean—something that is strange and unsettling. Such as the chapter title from The Hobbit: “Queer Lodgings.” I myself am queer in both senses—very strange, and also not heterosexual, because even if I was heterosexual, that would only exclude other genderless people from my dating pool. Hetero– simply means “different.” And I spent a great deal of time in love with another genderless Purple Person, as disastrously as that may have ended. But I digress; why is it so common to use “queer” this way? Is it simply because people like Q words? Or is the reason more sad and sinister?