Is Gay the New Gross?

Do you ever find yourself using the phrase "that's so gay" when you want to put something down?

I have to admit that I do. But I am a hypocrite because I bristle when people I deem jerks say it.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) would rather none of us tossed the term around in a negative way, and they've launched a campaign against anti-gay language to get us to stop. Well, actually, the campaign is aimed at teens, but perhaps we adults should pay attention, too.

GLSEN makes its point in a new PSA that finds Hilary Duff urging two girls not to use the word gay to put things down.

The girls are shopping when one asks the other if she likes the top she is trying on, and the other girl responds, "It's so gay" with disdain.

Hilary observes the exchange and steps in to tell the girls it isn't cool.

It isn't. But it sure is common for people to use the word gay in a pejorative way, and gay can mean all sorts of negative things like lame and stupid. One of my friends noticed that her nephews were using the word a lot this summer, mostly when referring to things they thought were gross.

So how did the word gay, which at one time simply meant happy and carefree, grow to encompass the many meanings it has today? According to Wikipedia, the meaning of the word took on sexual connotations in the late 17th century, and by the mid-20th century gay was used in reference to homosexuality. Gay—as in "that's so gay"—first came into use as a pejorative in the 1970s. It seems like everyone uses it that way today.

Of course, lots of words have different meanings, and some might argue that at this point the word is so commonly used that it isn't a direct insult to gay people. But as a gay person—even a gay person who uses the term when he knows he shouldn't—you can't help but feel a negative association when someone you know isn't cool with gay people uses it. It's like a sneaky little insult, a way of putting gay people down indirectly by labeling things you don't like as gay.

Do you think we need to be more careful about how we use the word gay?

Before you answer, ponder this: The launch of GLSEN's campaign against anti-gay language coincides with the release of the organization's 2007 National School Climate Survey, which found that nearly nine in ten LGBT teens have been verbally harassed in the past school year and almost half of the kids have been physically harassed because of their sexual orientation.

Now check out the PSA and share your thoughts.

Comments

[corrective_unconscious]

Okay, you could just tell your high school team's quarterback that you want to suck him off. It would be easier than all the typing you're doing here instead.

[chandler]

Hello all readers, a lil history, the word gay means happy, adopted by the gay community after being called gay ppl (happy ppl)during the hippie movement. So if you're gonna adopt a word with previous meaning, don't be upset when others do the same. No one should be offended, ur not gay, unless ur happy, homosexual is the term. Like fag - means a bunch or group of sticks, which is y its brit slang for cigs, and in the US for homosexual men (in groups), one homosexual can't be a fag. So with all that said, know your history before becoming something or being offended by a word(s), that truely do not pertain to you. Break away from labels, be you, not a label, and by the waygay was given to the community by straight ppl, are u gonna adopt everything they call u. Be fab, be smart, cheers.

[corrective_unconscious]

>No one should be offended, ur not gay, unless ur happy, homosexual is the term.

Take the dildo out of your ass, closet case, and put it in your mouth to help you stfu.

[duane]

OMG! This conversation sucks!

[Ryan]

Im a Junior in High School...and I am constantly correcting people for saying "That's so gay". Usually I will get a "Oh I'm sorry" or a "Oh yeah you're gay, I'm not supposed to say that around you."

It kinda ticks me off that people are referring to a term describing a sexuality as a way to negatively describe things. I feel like my attempts are futile as I keep telling the same people over and over. Its rather frustrating

[A heterosexual woman]

Gay men make misogynistic comments about women all the time. Jealousy, perhaps, and yet women have the 'balls' not to whine and moan. Simple fact, gay men are weak, and sooo gay.

[Vituang]

I find it ironic that people use the word gay to imply the meaning of the word gross. Gay people are often much more sophisticated, artistic and well-manicured than straights. Most fashion magazines have contributors that are mostly gay. Check out Futureclaw.com, for example. Their magazine is amazingly sophisticated, creative and sleek, and I would bet that most of their contributors are gay.