I teach several courses in mythology at my university (it's my area
of
concentration), and I feel inclined to say that the unicorn, as a
mythological animal, does not have any type of queer of emasculating
connotation in myth. In fact, it is sometimes quite a masculine
animal
that is related to the stag in the grail quest (the stag stabs,
with his
antler, the inner thigh of the grail knight, thus showing the stag's
greater masculinity). These animals are symbols of divinity,
essentially, of the fusion of purity and power. They don't really
have a
sexual connotation other than the idea of generative power (like the
bull). Queer is a new idea in myth; it's about fifty years old. Myth
itself, on the other hand, is about 70,000 years old. So, the
application of queer terminology to mythological items such as
unicorns
is a modern practice which has no real impact on ancient myths and
myth
items such as the unicorn. In a thousand years we will still have
myths
of the unicorn, but the idea of queer will probably have evolved into
something else (it already is evolving into something else...).
As to the question of whether or not unicorns still exist (see org
FAQ),
this falls within the same domain as the question of whether Atlantis
exists. The answer (as much as there can be one) is that they do
exist,
as mythological items that Carl Jung called "archetypal;" they are
essential to, and foundational of, human nature. They will always
be a
part of human culture, and exist timelessly in that sense whether
or not
they exist in fact.
I can hardly ever contribute anything useful to this list. Today is
an
exception.