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Using the word "Gay" as a negative adjective.

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I don't know if this is only a high school thing, but people like to use the word "gay" as a negative word or a substitute for stupid. Just to let you know I'm straight and I absolutely hate it when people do this. Gay is a sexual orientation, not an adjective, not a negative one at that. This is not only wrong grammatically, but just sounds stupid. It seems like people just use it without thinking, which is also foolish. It's like saying "oh, thats so straight" it makes no sense whatsoever. Sorry for the rant, but I think gays in general have taken enough heat from religious groups and other narrow-minded people. Also, this is coming from a Christian. So yes, not all Christians hate gays, I don't have anything against people who are a different sexual orientation.
 
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my brother is gay... and he uses the word gay as a negative word all the time... I don't think it means what you think it means in culture now adays.. kinda like there is a difference other words in the dictionary that sound and are spelled the same but mean different things... I mean maybe if my brother didn't say it and was offended by it I would think differently.. that being said.. I don't say it.
 
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Gay still means gay and definitely shouldn't be used as a derogative, I will kinda come back at my friends when they say it with something like "yeah dude so homosexual" sarcastically or something and they always turn red. I know little kids who are growing up not even knowing what it means and just thinking it can be used like a word like stupid. That is horrible! My friend did a documentary about it and people really are offended by it, same with mentally disabled people being really offended and upset about people using retarded or retard as a negative. It's just really screwed up and really gets on my nerves
 
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my brother is gay... and he uses the word gay as a negative word all the time... I don't think it means what you think it means in culture now adays.. kinda like there is a difference other words in the dictionary that sound and are spelled the same but mean different things... I mean maybe if my brother didn't say it and was offended by it I would think differently.. that being said.. I don't say it.
Really? That kind of surprises me, no offense to you or your brother. I just think it sounds weird anyways. Even if your brother does say it, It still does sound extremely offensive to gays. I mean, just because its a culture thing doesn't mean its right. And if more gays feel the same way PowerBookG4's brother does, then I guess I have a wrong perspective on this. I guess I'm just sick of people bashing gays at my school, not only with the term "thats gay". Its people seem so offended by their presence.
 
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It's been a derogative modifier since before I was in jr high school.

Gay was an adjective long before it was a sexual orientation. One things for certain, language shifts.
Another thing for certain, Zappa was right.. it's just words.
 
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It's been a derogative modifier since before I was in jr high school.

Gay was an adjective long before it was a sexual orientation. One things for certain, language shifts.
Another thing for certain, Zappa was right.. it's just words.
Words may be words, but they can have huge impacts. And just because its part of our culture and language doesn't mean it makes sense or is the right thing to say.
 
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The word "gay" has several other meanings that have nothing to do with homosexuality. It may have no apparent relationship to "stupid", but who's to say that the "homosexual" interpretation of the word is what's taken out of context?
 
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Merriam Webster:
1 a: happily excited : merry <in a gay mood> b: keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2 a: bright, lively <gay sunny meadows> b: brilliant in color
3: given to social pleasures; also : licentious
4 a: homosexual <gay men> b: of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>

Urban Dictionary:
1. jovial or happy, good-spirited
2. a homosexual male or female
3. often used to describe something stupid or unfortunate.

Words are a communication of a concept or idea. It's all about the meaning behind the word that determines whether its positive, negative or offensive. I think number 3 from the urban dictionary is how most teens use it these days. It did originate from the homosexual idea, but I don't think the idea of homosexuals even enters the mind of kids when they use it these days. It's simply changed into a synonym for bad, unfortunate, lame, stupid, or sub-par. Meanings or words change all the time.
 
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But the thing is that me and the OP are both in Highschool and hundreds of kids use it knowingly insulting Homosexuals, it DOES enter there minds! Maybe it is just because you guys aren't living with it in such large quantities, but it really is horrible and people are getting really hurt by it.
 
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I think number 3 from the urban dictionary is how most teens use it these days.

Not just these days, but heck, even teens in "my" days, which were a good 20+ years ago!

Ooops... did I just let my age slip? :Blushing:
 
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Words may be words, but they can have huge impacts. And just because its part of our culture and language doesn't mean it makes sense or is the right thing to say.
Words only have the impact you allow them to have. There's a single operative word in there. If you're telling me what I can and can not say because it's not politically correct, or because it may be offensive then we can mention here how the political correctness movement seems to be an awful lot like Orwellian thought control. Other than that, sometimes people need to be offended. It'd be a pretty boring world without it.
 
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But the thing is that me and the OP are both in Highschool and hundreds of kids use it knowingly insulting Homosexuals, it DOES enter there minds! Maybe it is just because you guys aren't living with it in such large quantities, but it really is horrible and people are getting really hurt by it.
I was in high school before you were born and it obviously hasn't changed since then either I see. Funny thing about high school. Teenagers are horrid, evil, mean creatures. They'll go out of their way to enforce conformity, especially those who claim to be 'non-conformist'. The other funny thing about high school is that it ends, and people grow up.

Funny though, my high school aged daughter doesn't believe me about that either, so I don't expect any other teenager to :) of course, you and her.. forget that we were there too.. and that really, things don't change that much.
 
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But the thing is that me and the OP are both in Highschool and hundreds of kids use it knowingly insulting Homosexuals, it DOES enter there minds! Maybe it is just because you guys aren't living with it in such large quantities, but it really is horrible and people are getting really hurt by it.

People are hurt by words every day, whether it be because they are gay, fat, dorky, have a big nose, live in the wrong neighborhood, have a different religion, have a speech impediment, walk with a limp, or wear their pants too high, among other things. I was picked on incessantly from about 3rd-grade on through high school by pretty much everyone around me, everywhere I went, for the most ridiculous insignificant things, and it was NOT for being gay (which, BTW, I am not). Heck... it might have been easier if I had been gay. At least I would have had some people I could have identified with and gotten support from.

Bottom line is people suck, and they always will. Right or wrong, you really have little choice but to suck it up and deal with it. Hopefully you'll find it in yourselves to cope in a positive manner and overcome the challenges these people are setting for you. But no matter what, they are NOT going away.
 
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I agree with you on all of that, but the impacts that these words are having are not by my choice, should I let these impacts take place or should I give effort to prevent them?
 
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I use it all the time and have nothing against gay people whatsoever. I dont believe we should restrict gay marriage at all. When I say something is gay, I'm connecting whatever it is with homosexuality. Its a connotation.

Being biracial however, I HATE when people use the N-word.
 
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I'm sort of split.
At my high school, nobody really says it. It's a quiet conservative place, but the couple people who DO say it are the biggest airheads ever. I'm not connecting the fact that they are stupid to the fact that they use that phrase all the time, they're just the OH MY GAWD, I'M SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU.

Just this one person in particular.
He's a huge athlete. Really good looking, good grades all that, but nobody really likes him, because he fits every single dumb male stereotype there is.
He's a really shady person.
He says things like this that really annoy me, it's not really what he's saying (well sometimes it is) it's just WHO is saying it.
Here's some quotes.

"OH MY GAWD, YOU KNOW WHAT WAS SOOOOOOOOO GUHHHH-YAYYYYY TODAY? THAT ARGUMENT ABOUT THAT FOOTBALL PLAYER AND DOGFIGHTING. DOGS DON'T HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS PEOPLE, I DON'T THINK HE DID ANYTHING THAT WRONG, IT'S NOT LIKE DOGS ARE PEOPLE, PEOPLE GET MARRIED AND DIVORCED ALL THE TIME!"

"GAY PEOPLE DO THIS (does a weird hand motion)"

"(Name of a gay male in my school) SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY ANY SPORTS! HE SHOULD BE KICKED OUT OF ALL THE SPORTS TEAMS, HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO BE IN THE TALENT SHOW AGAIN, AND HIS PARENTS SHOULD BE ASHAMED BECAUSE THAT'S JUST WRONG!"

I get really angry whenever HE says "gay", but other people I don't get angry.

I don't really LIKE it, but it's 2008, there are a lot of things I hate.

Sort of like how people say "god" all the time.

Some people hate it, some don't care.
I'm an atheist, and i'll use "god" all the time, and last week an older sub teacher wrote me a detention because of it.

It's a tough issue.

But the world is filled with idiots.
 

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The only time I'm subjected to the word is during poker.

It's usually used after someone has failed to bluff me off a hand and calls my play "gay".
Don't much care, especially with the money moving my way.
 
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It depends on the person. My boss is gay and doesnt mind when people say it. Coolest gay guy i have ever met
 
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I'm sort of split.
At my high school, nobody really says it. It's a quiet conservative place, but the couple people who DO say it are the biggest airheads ever. I'm not connecting the fact that they are stupid to the fact that they use that phrase all the time, they're just the OH MY GAWD, I'M SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU.

Just this one person in particular.
He's a huge athlete. Really good looking, good grades all that, but nobody really likes him, because he fits every single dumb male stereotype there is.
He's a really shady person.
He says things like this that really annoy me, it's not really what he's saying (well sometimes it is) it's just WHO is saying it.
Here's some quotes.

"OH MY GAWD, YOU KNOW WHAT WAS SOOOOOOOOO GUHHHH-YAYYYYY TODAY? THAT ARGUMENT ABOUT THAT FOOTBALL PLAYER AND DOGFIGHTING. DOGS DON'T HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS PEOPLE, I DON'T THINK HE DID ANYTHING THAT WRONG, IT'S NOT LIKE DOGS ARE PEOPLE, PEOPLE GET MARRIED AND DIVORCED ALL THE TIME!"

"GAY PEOPLE DO THIS (does a weird hand motion)"

"(Name of a gay male in my school) SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY ANY SPORTS! HE SHOULD BE KICKED OUT OF ALL THE SPORTS TEAMS, HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO BE IN THE TALENT SHOW AGAIN, AND HIS PARENTS SHOULD BE ASHAMED BECAUSE THAT'S JUST WRONG!"

I get really angry whenever HE says "gay", but other people I don't get angry.

I don't really LIKE it, but it's 2008, there are a lot of things I hate.

Sort of like how people say "god" all the time.

Some people hate it, some don't care.
I'm an atheist, and i'll use "god" all the time, and last week an older sub teacher wrote me a detention because of it.

It's a tough issue.

But the world is filled with idiots.

I go to a fairly conservative "private" high school too. There is no diversity at it though as in liberals and conservatives. I'm pretty much one of the only liberals there, besides a handful of other people. Nobody is that bad at my school and if they were, they would really tick me off. Just wondering since I've never been to a public school, but are you allowed to use what words you want (as in swears)? Also what are some other things you can and can't do in terms of freedom of speech? Again, just wondering, Thanks.
 
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Are you allowed to? No. Freedom of speech is very restricted in public schools. At least all the ones my kids have gone to, which represents 3 states across the union. Even when I went to school it was restricted.

edit: both at parochial preparatory schools and public schools in my case.
 

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