part of the speaker.
What term is accepted or offensive is going to vary from person to person
and more importantly in what context. Most of my gay friends use the term
"gay" as the generic form. Usually when someone asks of a gay person if they
or someone else is "homosexual" it's found to be humorous because it points
up that the person asking is either naive or uncomfortable with the idea.
Bantering terms like "queer", "fag", and "man slut" are generally only
acceptable within a safe group of like friends. You don't have to be gay to
use the terms, but if you're not part of their social community then it's
going to feel wrong to some people.
And of course because it's such a sensitive issue, any of the terms can be
used derisively. And that's where it's not about PC or not, it's about hate.
If someone calls someone else a faggot, it's typically intended as an
insult. And an insult is an insult. Using the word "gay" to refer to
something as dumb or stupid is offensive because it equates stupid with
being homosexual. It's like the insult of calling anything having to do with
money or greed "jewish". It's just rude.
And now that you mention it, I miss Vernon too.
-Kevin
(BTW, not that it matters to me, but I'm not gay. I've had many gay friends
including some that have been bashed and others disowned by their parents,
so I have some strong feelings about people being anti-gay.)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Dinowitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 5:07 PM
Subject: Re: Political Correctness
> From what I know gay is the accepted term. Queer is also accepted by many,
> but not as much as gay.
> If any gay members of the list (who may not want to be public about it)
want
> to email me the accepted term, I'll relay it. If any openly gay memebers
of
> the list would like to inform us of the accepted term, that would also be
> great.
>
> I really miss Vernon. :(
>
> > This is my favorite quote:
> >
> > The word "homosexual" should also be avoided because it is derogatory
and
> > stems from a 19th century notion that homosexuality was an illness, the
> > guidelines say.
> >
> > So.... if homosexual is bad ... and gay is bad... what term DO you use?
> >
> >
> >
>
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