- Joined
- Oct 6, 2002
- Posts
- 2,021
- Media
- 10
- Likes
- 126
- Points
- 383
- Location
- Palm Springs, CA
- Sexuality
- 99% Gay, 1% Straight
- Gender
- Male
Be honest. It's an anonymous poll, after all.
Comments are welcomed, of course.
The poll is so anonymous you forgot to post it.:biggrin1:
Usage that has always puzzled me is why many people(homosexuals included), will say "a gay" rather than "a gay person" or "the gays" rather than "people who are gay". It just serves to emphasise any potential discrimination and allow a person's sexuality to be defining, in my opinion.
It depends on how it is used. In the 1920's it meant happy. When kids say "that is so gay' they mean "lame". The word by itself means a gay person to me.
Yeah, "a gay" seems to have become almost common now. I remember ten years ago when it was considered insulting to even refer to "the gays". It's a dehumanizing way to refer to gay people, but I'm sure that that was the intention of those who first started putting an article in front of "gay" or "gays".
You never hear people talk about "a straight", do you...
Well I think there is a double standard here, because I find it equally disappointing to hear straight people called "Breeders" by gay people.
Your third definition is now well-established in British teen slang - I don't know whether it is so used in the US also. This new usage suggests that homophobia is alive and kicking in the teenage group.
And I am equally discouraged that anyone feels the need to use any of them whether it is someone's life style, religion or skin color.What's the double standard? I was talking about calling someone "a gay" versus "a straight"?The double standard is that someone is using any slurs to describe another lifestyle when they are sensitive about labels or slurs of their own.
If you want to get into slurs for homosexuals versus heterosexuals, there's a LOT more slurs for homosexuals than heterosexuals.