ABSTRACT
Our aim in this chapter is to introduce queer theory (QT) as a way of thinking about voluntary services delivered within the public sector. Our aim, ultimately, is the improvement of the services delivered. What QT does is ‘queer’ or make odd, or unusual, the ways in which we customarily think about voluntary and public sector services and the ways in which they are delivered. By queering voluntary sector services we show how they, like public sector services in general, can fall into the trap of homogenizing service users, and thus fail to deliver appropriate services.
