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Something that drives me absolutely crazy is when people say “that’s so gay” when referring to something they think is dumb. It is offensive and hurts me a little every time I hear it. I try to get people to stop, but I often find that they don’t even understand why it is offensive. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way so it is great to see that there are now ads trying to convince teens to stop using the phrase. Check them out:
My wife and I are practically surrounded by gay friends (male, female, bi), but she uses that phrase all the time. However, she’ll usually have a coda on the end:
“That’s so gay, and not in any cool homosexual sort of way either.”
It’s really not meant as a dig, but I can see how it would be taken that way.
And most people don’t mean it as a dig. But the truth of the matter is that language has more power than we like to admit. So say your wife says “that’s so gay” without the end in front of your glbt friends. They know she means no harm so its not a big deal. But say she says it in front of front of people who don’t know her and they’re gay. Its quite likely that they won’t want to tell her now.
I also say “that’s so gay” but when I say it I usually mean homosexual. Like if I saw a rainbow painted car I’d say that was really really gay.
I’m so glad there are ads about this. In high school, I heard people say that several times each day, and it was really, really annoying and insulting.
Hah, I love Wanda Sykes. Thanks for posting these.
Yeah, I thought it would end in high school, but it didn’t. I find it especially annoying that I still hear adults saying this.
I think this is a term that will go away in time as our vocabulary changes I dont think ads will do anything.
Gay itself is a borrowed word. Language is a fluid thing, and words change over time. I doubt farmers are up in arms about people calling it a cock…
When was the last time you vocalized something being dumb? Did you think about offending mutes?
Roosters are hardly oppressed people.
And yes, I do think about my language offending people. I’m not perfect, but I do try to change my language when I realize that it might offend others.