The discipline of Queer Studies encompasses theories and thinkers from numerous fields: cultural studies, gay and lesbian studies, race studies, women's studies, media, postmodernism, post-colonialism, psychoanalysis and more.

While engaging with this diverse range of fields, the work of queer studies distinguishes itself by focusing on issues of sexuality as a central lens through which questions raised in these other arenas might be inflected. To that end, queer studies examines the cultural, social and political implications of sexuality and gender from the perspective of those marginalized by the dominant sexual ethos. It explores the ways that culture defines and regulates sexuality as well as the ways that sexuality structures and shapes social institutions.