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Field Researcher
#251 Old 8th Aug 2008 at 7:46 PM
Well, I've heard it used in really bad ways.. I am living in Texas and originally from Small Hick Town Ohio. One of my best friends is gay. He had to deal with everyone in our high school growing up. I saw and heard some horrible things happen to him. Because of that, I won't ever use the word gay in a hateful or even joking way again. But, it does depend on the person. Some people use it to hurt. Others dont really mean anything by it.
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#252 Old 10th Aug 2008 at 2:57 AM
Nope, I don't find it offensive. Lots of people say it, and I'm sure it doesn't refer to homosexual people all the time. Why should it be offensive to you if it isn't offensive to homosexuals and bisexuals?
#253 Old 10th Aug 2008 at 2:58 AM
I think it is a rude word to say to people and if your bullied thtough your school years with it, it is really horrible for the person getting made fun of. My mate is not gay but he can be femenim but that doesnt mean he is gay but people can be rude an make horrible remarks which i find extremely insulting even though theyr not thrown towards me.
I also think its in the context or how an where you say it - if you said to someone 'aww your gay' but laughing, it is probably a little offensive but not bad, but if you shout it or have a go at someone saying it, it is rude. Or if you say 'aww this games just gay' thats not offensive what so ever.

I think some people get really offended even if it wasnt towards them, some people just think what ever and dont let it bother. I think its just how the person being called it takes it really
Field Researcher
#254 Old 10th Aug 2008 at 5:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by WooHoo
I'm gonna be honest, this thread is eleven pages long and I didn't read all the way through it. So, maybe I'm not the first to say this, but...

No, it doesn't really offend me. Just doesn't. I don't use it in a derogatory way though. When I say it, it's more like I mean "delightful" or "happy". You know, kinda like what it used to mean. I'll say things like "I'm gay for that song" and mean that the song in question just makes me super-happy.


Man, now this I like. I really wish this would catch on. I've heard some of the old applications of "gay" before in became linked with sexuality but never have I heard the old definition used in this manner. It stinks having such a confined spirit sometimes. I'd love to have the nerve to follow your lead on this.
#255 Old 10th Aug 2008 at 5:25 AM
I do find it offensive. It is because around where I live, students use it as a synonym for stupid. I hear it all the time.I wish some people would try to expand their vocabulary. So they don't have to use the same word over and over again.
Field Researcher
#256 Old 10th Aug 2008 at 2:23 PM
Quote: Originally posted by JyanKenPyon
I do find it offensive. It is because around where I live, students use it as a synonym for stupid. I hear it all the time.I wish some people would try to expand their vocabulary. So they don't have to use the same word over and over again.


Can't disagree with this sentiment at all. Heck, it was my reaction When I first started hearing it used in the homosexual context after hearing in the original context for years in The Flintstones theme music. But even more so now. Here's a word used to describe sexual preference I've never fully embraced but more resigned myself to in that context. Now you want to twist it FURTHER by applying it to all things stupid? So you're going to give it a second foreign meaning that's also insulting? Nope. Sorry. Not in these ears you don't. You don't even have to get a new word. Just use "lame" or "stupid" or one of many others that already exist for this purpose.
Field Researcher
#257 Old 11th Aug 2008 at 6:33 PM
I do not like it when people make those statements - referring "gay" to be stupid/homosexual. I mean seriously, if you look in the dictionary, "Gay" used to mean just "Happy."
Kids at school teased me and called me gay, and I'm not for one, but it's just not cool! EVEN if I was homosexual, there would be nothing wrong with that!
That's why I hate most kids in my grade! :D
Test Subject
#258 Old 15th Aug 2008 at 7:33 AM
well people have been saying it in my area like "thats gay" since 2004, so i guess it just becomes part of your vocabulary, lol. idk anyone who used it against a gay person though in the opposite meaning, that would be mean. i think saying something is gay is better than saying faggot, idk faggot reminds me of chicken nugget, lol i guess its the two g's.

i dont think theres anything wrong, words can have diff meanings and this word has became its own 2nd meaning. i dont think its homophobic ALL the time, its just another way to get what your saying across.

just happened to be the word 'gay' which can mean homosexual so some people flip out, lol
Lab Assistant
#259 Old 15th Aug 2008 at 1:33 PM
I think it's not really bad saying things with gay.. Here are even songs who goes like: And if you now don't jump are you a gay (but then in Dutch). It's not that you can hear it on the radio or something, it's only sometimes on parties. I have a friend who's gay and he doesn't mind he says.
And if somebody does something strange people say homo! (gay). But I don't think saying gay is bad.. I even think it sounds friendly and not serious, more funny. But when my uncle (he's gay) is near, I have to watch my words, because without noticing it gay is a pretty much used word. And I don't think it's nice for a gay if you're saying the whole time that's soo gay etc.
Lab Assistant
#260 Old 15th Aug 2008 at 2:17 PM
I think it totally depends on the context of the sentance and the intention of the person who is saying it. I'm homosexual, and I personally do not find the term "that's so gay" offensive as I know that when the majority of people are saying it - especially when they are saying it around me - are not using it as a derogatory term towards me or people of my persuasion. Hell, I even use the term "that's so gay" myself if something is a little bit naff or irksome.

Language is a constantly evolving entity, words change meanings

Gay used to mean happy and brightly coloured. It eventually became a synonym for homosexuals and was a positive thing (with the "happy" associations) and also due to many of the flamboyant characters that became associated with the gay community.

So then we have the word Queer. Queer used to mean "strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular", or "of a questionable nature or character" or "unwell" before it came to be a derogatory term for homosexual, or now, a word that gay people ironically use to describe themselves.

Is it therefore a huge leap of logic to see how the old meaning of the word "queer" has now evolved into people saying "that's so gay" to mean the exact same thing?

As I said, though, it all depends on the context and the intention with which the phrase is spoken.
Lab Assistant
#261 Old 15th Aug 2008 at 2:48 PM
I am straight, But i hang with 3 gay friends now and then.

And we use the "gay" word as a bad term all the time, They do it..I do it.
We laugh about it.

Because we dont use the "Gay" word as something homosexuall, To us it dosnt mean what you sexually prefer, or a group of people. Its just something we say to lable something as bad or funny. I unno

And i dont know, If Homosexuall people (gay's) use that word as a bad term, Then wtf.. xD

A convo with a gay friend of mine:


Smilies are included cause we were talking on msn haha.

"Oh my god sara did you see that movie, its sooo fcking gay.."
"No its not, You're gay >;("
"Lol, Yeah <3"

I'm sorry if ive offended anyone here. But i don't know, If the people around me arent bothered by it, If my friends use it. Then it's OK in my eyes.

I dont know, its a word. And it's whatever you make it in to.
Top Secret Researcher
#262 Old 15th Aug 2008 at 2:57 PM
I think it all depends on the person. If someone's offended by the term and asks you to stop, then you should respect their wishes and do so. If they're not, then I guess there's no problem.

~* Childish, Eco-Friendly, Snob, Couch Potato, Inappropriate *~
Field Researcher
#263 Old 5th Dec 2008 at 5:47 PM
Yes, this is necro-threading.. but.. hey.. it's new info, right??

Quote:
December 04, 2008
NEW YORK (YouTube.com/AdAge) -- The ArnoldNYC agency in partnership with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has won the Ad Council's award for best Public Service advertising campaign. Entitled "Think Before You Speak," the messaging was designed to discourage use of the slur "That's so gay" by school students. The Council's Bell awards for creative excellence were announced at a dinner ceremony at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria hotel.


The video can be viewed, here.

Peace

I am not bigoted for race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or age... I do, however, have a big problem with stupidity, and stupidity knows no boundaries.
Scholar
#264 Old 5th Dec 2008 at 9:00 PM
Since the necromancy has already happened...

*checks above link*

Well, good luck to them. Though I am straight, there are few things that frustrate me so much as people using the term "that's so gay"--especially when referring to inanimate objects. It pisses me off much more than it should.

I've encountered it a lot less as I've grown older, but that being said, I don't think we're going to see it stop among adolescents. I can't figure out why it's so endemic (that's the right word?) among teens, but if I had to guess, they're just entering puberty, and sexuality has suddenly skyrocketed to the top of their priorities until they can get their hormones under control.

Or some crap like that. I have no idea, when I was a teen, I can't imagine using it as a descriptive. It's so stupid.

"We're on sob day two of Operation Weeping-Bald-Eagle-Liberty-Never-Forget-Freedom-Watch sniff no word yet sob on our missing patriot Glenn Beck sob as alleged-President Hussein Obama shows his explicit support sniff for his fellow communists by ruling out the nuclear option."
Test Subject
#265 Old 5th Dec 2008 at 9:05 PM
I find it offensive and mean. I've had lesbian neighbor's forever and they've been some of the nicest people I know. :]
 
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