Stop using the word "homosexual"

[InkL0sed]

It's offensive.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay ... the-n-word

[Army of GOD]

no  

[Hannibał]

Yeah..and calling me white/caucasin is offensive, please don't call me what I am.

I always thought homosexual was the polite term, sure beats the other often used terms

[drake_259]

ah well that's like me saying i find it offensive people calling me hetrosexual, that's who you are, deal with it.

[IcePack]

I'm offended that your getting offended.

[Martin Ronne]

Just say "not straight."

[Hannibał]

I've got a question, since everyone wants to keep making these homosexual threads.

Why is it that the majority of gay guys act like flamers? Way over the top rhinestone,glitter,tight pastel shirts,etc. Screeching and carrying on like jackasses? Way more feminine then females.. it seems they want the attention, but act surprised when the attention is negetive.

I've known gay guys who don't act like this and the general public is usually much much more understanding and tolerant...so why? Why all the rainbow shit, bumper stickers,etc?

[Serbia]

This is pathetic. Also, don't call me a drunk, call me a "normal, fun loving guy, who enjoys drinking alcoholic beverages". Or a "NFLGWEDAB", pronounced "Nuffle-gweedab"

[InkL0sed]

It's not pathetic. I know how people love to go on about political correctness "going too far", but calling someone a "homosexual" has a bad history of pseudoscientific attitudes. Read the article, if you haven't; most people who use it are probably "homo-ignorant" as he calls it.

Why is it ridiculous that "homosexual" is bad, but the n-word or "Negro" being bad are not ridiculous?

I hope it's not because we're afraid of black people and not afraid of gay people, or because we somehow think that gays aren't a legitimate minority, or that they don't deserve dignifying terms.

The ironic thing about rejecting this is that saying "homosexual" (if you're not just homophobic) is clearly the mark of someone trying really hard to be unoffensive (like when someone says "Caucasian" or "African-American", two more stupid and ridiculous terms) - and failing miserably, out of ignorance.

Just don't use it. It shouldn't be so difficult.

[InkL0sed]

Also, most of the above comments seem to be implying that I'm saying you shouldn't call people what they are. Please don't twist my words or the words of the guy in this article. You are free to call gay people gay, and white people white, and drunk people drunk, and stupid people stupid (I'm trying really hard to stay polite here). You are free to call black people black, but you are not free to call them other things, because they have insulting connotations. "Homosexual" also has insulting connotations.

You weren't aware of them, and now you are. So don't use it anymore. That's all.

[john9blue]

the meanings and connotations of words in a culture change over time.

homosexual is not offensive in 2011 america. faggot is offensive.

[Army of GOD]

Words, in themselves, are not bad. "Nigger", or "negro" standing by itself means abso-fucking-lutely nothing.

The bigger problem, in my opinion, is the fact that you are telling people to stop using the word. Some gays find some words offensive, others couldn't give less of a shit.

For example, there was this gay kid who lived across the hall from me in my freshman dorm. He and I were really good friends, and he didn't care if people called him "gay", "queer", a "faggot" or "homosexual". Yet, when we called him "gaytistic" (gay+autistic...inside joke), he flipped the f*ck out.

Telling people to stop using a word altogether is annoying. I surely wouldn't want to hang out with people who are offended by words period, never mind just the word "homosexual". If I offend someone, then whatever.

[Woodruff]

It's offensive.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay ... the-n-word

Um...what? First of all, every single homosexual I've known has preferred that term over "gay". Every one of them. The reason? Because at least it describes the orientation. Gay does not. This just strikes me as people trying to be offended.

[Woodruff]

Why is it that the majority of gay guys act like flamers?

They don't, you ignorant putz.

[demonfork]

I'm offended that the homosexuals commandeered the word "gay". The word used to mean happy before the homosexuals ripped it off and changed the meaning.

Just think of all of those poor women who's parents named them Gay just before the term was modified. You think that those women weren't made fun of?

[daddy1gringo]

I'm offended that the homosexuals commandeered the word "gay". The word used to mean happy before the homosexuals ripped it off and changed the meaning.

Just think of all of those poor women who's parents named them Gay just before the term was modified. You think that those women weren't made fun of?

Or the difficulty we now have introducing English students to Gay Talese.

[InkL0sed]

Words, in themselves, are not bad. "Nigger", or "negro" standing by itself means abso-fucking-lutely nothing.

Of course words have meaning by themselves. That's why we use them. They're not open for interpretation; when I say, "I am going to punch you in the face", you're not allowed to decide that it means that I'm actually about to have sex with your mother.

The bigger problem, in my opinion, is the fact that you are telling people to stop using the word. Some gays find some words offensive, others couldn't give less of a shit.

For example, there was this gay kid who lived across the hall from me in my freshman dorm. He and I were really good friends, and he didn't care if people called him "gay", "queer", a "faggot" or "homosexual". Yet, when we called him "gaytistic" (gay+autistic...inside joke), he flipped the f*ck out.

Telling people to stop using a word altogether is annoying. I surely wouldn't want to hang out with people who are offended by words period, never mind just the word "homosexual". If I offend someone, then whatever.

Using the word with a friend who prefers or doesn't mind it is entirely different than using it in a forum or otherwise public speech. If an individual friend doesn't mind it or prefers it, go ahead - as long as your intentions aren't to offend. But in public, don't; you will offend many people because it is offensive.

It's the same exact thing as with the n-word; if you have black friends who are OK with you using it, that's one thing. But you can't start using it to refer to black people in general on this forum or you will rightly be called a racist.

I'm offended that the homosexuals commandeered the word "gay". The word used to mean happy before the homosexuals ripped it off and changed the meaning.

Just think of all of those poor women who's parents named them Gay just before the term was modified. You think that those women weren't made fun of?

I think it's interesting that you think gays "comandeered" the term. Just like they were the ones who started calling themselves "queer" and "fairy", right?

It's offensive.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay ... the-n-word

Um...what? First of all, every single homosexual I've known has preferred that term over "gay". Every one of them. The reason? Because at least it describes the orientation. Gay does not. This just strikes me as people trying to be offended.

My brother (originally sister) is a gay rights activist. Besides being one himself, he personally knows far more members of the LGBT community than you ever will in your lifetime, and has asked his professors to stop using the term. He also has "professor-friends" who were shocked by the ignorance of these professors. So don't go there.

Also, don't go in the territory of challenging me about the usage of language. I am studying linguistics. Everything I do revolves the usage of language. You will only look silly.

PS. I myself am straight. Also, I had to go back and edit the pronouns referring to my brother (they were originally feminine). The point to this is that these things are hard for me. However, I am sensitive to other people's feelings when it comes to my usage of language, just like I'm sensitive to black people's feelings when I don't start throwing the n-word around to refer to them.

Furthermore, If you accept that the n-word isn't acceptable (as the majority of people do), you accept that some words aren't acceptable. Languages evolve. This doesn't happen by committee - gay people didn't all gather around and decide that "homosexual" was going to be offensive. It's offensive because it has a history, and is hurtful to anyone who is aware of it.

I'm not asking you to stop using it with your friends, Woodruff and AoG. I'm asking for you to be aware of the fact that it is in fact offensive, since it implies that being gay is a choice. So don't use it with strangers, acquaintances, or on the Internet.

[Phatscotty]

It's offensive.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay ... the-n-word

What the heck are they called then? I always thought homosexual was just the opposite of heterosexual.

[InkL0sed]

It's offensive.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay ... the-n-word

What the heck are they called then? I always thought homosexual was just the opposite of heterosexual.

That brings me to another point, thanks for reminding me. It's called the LGBT community. It stands for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual". That's what they call themselves.

So use those terms.

[Phatscotty]

I've got a question, since everyone wants to keep making these homosexual threads.

Why is it that the majority of gay guys act like flamers? Way over the top rhinestone,glitter,tight pastel shirts,etc. Screeching and carrying on like jackasses? Way more feminine then females.. it seems they want the attention, but act surprised when the attention is negetive.

I've known gay guys who don't act like this and the general public is usually much much more understanding and tolerant...so why? Why all the rainbow shit, bumper stickers,etc?

You can't expect a sexual orientation that has been oppressed for so long to be transported from the closet to liberty on a featherbed.

Thomas Jefferson

[Phatscotty]

It's offensive.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay ... the-n-word

What the heck are they called then? I always thought homosexual was just the opposite of heterosexual.

That brings me to another point, thanks for reminding me. It's called the LGBT community. It stands for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual". That's what they call themselves.

So use those terms.

Actually, it's now called the LGBTQ, Q is for questioning...

I am in tune with the gay community

[Woodruff]

I'm not asking you to stop using it with your friends, Woodruff and AoG. I'm asking for you to be aware of the fact that it is in fact offensive, since it implies that being gay is a choice. So don't use it with strangers, acquaintances, or on the Internet.

But that's exactly WHY I use the term "homosexual" instead of "gay". In my entire lifetime, I've not known anyone that didn't prefer the term "homosexual". I've known people who don't mind the term "gay" either (they basically didn't care what you called them as long as they knew you weren't trying to be an ass), but nobody that actually prefers that term, including one of my cadets last year. I'm not trying to challenge the article really, but that's why I find this very confusing and backward.

[saxitoxin]

Hey, someone just posted a video of this thread on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZddspcjDIY

[saxitoxin]

Words, in themselves, are not bad. "Nigger", or "negro" standing by itself means abso-fucking-lutely nothing.

Of course words have meaning by themselves. That's why we use them. They're not open for interpretation; when I say, "I am going to punch you in the face", you're not allowed to decide that it means that I'm actually about to have sex with your mother.

Obviously you're wrong.

The word wicked means something entirely different in Boston than it does in the Magical Land of Oz.

[saxitoxin]

That brings me to another point, thanks for reminding me. It's called the LGBT community. It stands for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual". That's what they call themselves.

It's called the LGBTQI community, Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer-Intersexed. Please stop using LGBT. It is exclusionary and offensive to Intersexed people. Thank you.

Educate yourself, caveman: http://lgbt.newark.rutgers.edu/download ... nology.pdf