[Will M.]

Why do so many people refer to non-sexually related items or actions as ‘gay’? The word ‘gay’ has developed nearly the same importance as the words ‘stupid’ or ‘inane.’ Why is it used instead of these supposed synonyms?

User Detail :  

Name : Will M., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 17, City : Pine Grove, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Kelly]

Ugh, tell me about it. I was chatting with my 14-year-old cousin a couple of weeks back, and when I asked him what he was doing for Earth Day, he replied, ‘Earth Day? Ew … that is so gay.’ I challenged his manner of applying a sexual term to something as inanimate as a holiday. He said flatly: ‘Because it is a gay holiday. I don’t like it.’ I told him he could say he didn’t like it, but not that it was gay, because that term can only be applied to a person. He replied: ‘I DON’T LIKE IT! … and it is gay.’ Talk about an age gap.

User Detail :  

Name : Kelly, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : I'm not sure anymore, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : East Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[Eric-B]

I am straight and have gay family members and acquaintances. When something is referred to as gay, it means more like dreaded or unfavorable. Simple human nature says that people don’t want to be different in any way, so I guess gay is an easy way to totally alienate yourself. When someone refers to something as being gay, it is more like the last thing you want to be. I could easily see other words being substituted for gay, but especially because this term is used by adolescents, gay is an easy term to use.

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Name : Eric-B, Gender : M, City : Norwalk, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Jay-G]

I’m not sure why, but it’s not new: when I was in high school in the early ’80s I remember it being a common slam. But some slams don’t even make sense. For example, why is it bad to call someone a f*cker? The way some people throw around the f-bombs, you’d think f*cking was a bad thing.

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Name : Jay-G, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 39, City : Freeland, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : web guy, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John29286]

The word gay is not a sexual term. It is a word that conveys happiness and frivolity. Yes I know that is considered an old definition, which only goes to show that you have an age gap on both sides. Are you a baby boomer by chance?

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Name : John29286, Gender : M, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, 

[l]

Ignorance perhaps. I am not sure whether you have observed this, but I have: many homosexuals humorously refer to one another as being ‘so gay’ and things like that. If you watch the show ‘WIll and Grace,’ you’ll understand what I mean. It doesn’t really make it OK, though. As long as they aren’t offended, I guess. I think people just shouldn’t say things like that, just like the ‘n’ word, or the word ‘retarded’. All of those things seem like ignorant comments. I am disappointed in our society for prolonging the lives of insensitive terms that should have died out a long time ago.

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Name : l, City : newyork, State : NY, Country : United States, 

[Vail24491]

You mean like saying gay instead of happy? ‘Let’s dress up in victorian costumes from the 1890s.’ ‘Oh, that is so gay.’ Is a faggot a bundle of malnourished homosexuals? We can talk about using the word retarded next! ‘Why is the water in th spigot so slow?’ ‘Because the flow is retarded.’ Sorry, I guess that was really gay.

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Name : Vail24491, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : mutt, Religion : Atheist, Age : 40, City : Philly, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Kirk]

Using the word gay as a derogatory term is a way of taking the word back. Gay meant happy or carefree until the homosexual community took it on. Many people feel odd using it now since to call yourself gay no longer means you are happy. By using it for ‘stupid’ or ‘inane’ you are setting it up so if someone calls themself gay you can infer they are stupid or inane. Do this enough, the meaning will stick and the homosexual community will have to find another word.

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Name : Kirk, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Secular Humanist, Age : 48, City : Ft Worth, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Andrea19801]

Words evolve over time. Gay seems to have four general meanings as an adjective: happy, showy, homosexual, and stupid.

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Name : Andrea19801, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Diest, Age : 19, City : Granbury, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jen]

The press and conservative groups have given ‘gay’ a negative connotation. Just as Spam has been the laughing stock of luncheon meat byproducts and now is a familiar, negative term for junk e-mail, so has ‘gay’ taken the same path in the world of slang.

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Name : Jen, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 31, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Tom24146]

‘Gay’ is a word whose meaning has changed over the course of my lifetime. As a child, I used the word gay in exactly the way you describe–and I sometimes still do. Words have multiple meanings sometimes; gay used to mean ‘happy’ or ‘lively and fun’, and it still does in France (although they have borrowed the English meaning of ‘homosexual’ as well). It may seem that, when used as you describe, it is derogatory to gay people. In my mind, I can feel the distinction; if I refer to an event as ‘gay’, I am not automatically making the mental connection with homosexuality. If this happens, it is on a subconscious level, for I didn’t know that gay meant homosexual until later (my parents referred–rarely– to gay people as queer). Words have multiple meanings, and it is unfortunate that a mildly-derogatory word like ‘gay’ (‘That movie was so gay’) also refers to a group of individuals. As I said, the meaning has changed over my lifetime; that is the nature of language. We must choose our words carefully, yet also be sensitive to the policing of language.

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Name : Tom24146, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 34, City : Paris, State : NA, Country : France, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Joe30626]

I’m not sure why people do it, but it really bothers me. I think in protest I’ll start calling things I think are stupid ‘straight.’

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Name : Joe30626, Sexual Orientation : Straight, City : Dayton, State : OH, Country : United States, 

[Ed]

People use ‘gay’, mostly guys, to mean ‘stupid’, because of the image of being gay as being feminine and silly. And according to the male stereotype, being feminine is equivalent to being weak. Think about the stereotype of a ‘flamingly gay’ person, and you get images of someone to be laughed at, someone trivial. It’s the opposite of qualities traditionally associated with men, which are power and dominance. So when something non-sexual is ‘gay’, it’s a synonym for being trivial, nonsensical, or inane, which are the negative qualities males stereotypically associate with females. Actually, if you think about the use of the word ‘stupid’ itself, it’s rarely used to describe things that lack intelligence.

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Name : Ed, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Milpitas, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Ken]

I’m a gay man but I frequently use the word gay to describe things. To me, something is gay if it is campy, light-hearted or even activist. I don’t think of it as an insult, rather a funny description. Gay people as a group tend to have different interests than others. If it seems that a particular event would appeal more to a gay mindset than a straight one, then why not call it gay?

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Name : Ken, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Uniter Church of Canada, Age : 23, City : Toronto, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[J.D. Ricks]

I’m bordering on ‘old fart’, but I can remember when ‘gay’ had no sexual or gender connotation at all. It simply meant ‘happy, carefree, joyous’. Now, as with many words such as ‘bad,’ the younger generation has turned the meaning completely around. It’s this kind of thing that makes linguistics such a fascinating study.

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Name : J.D. Ricks, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : crippled (the word doesn't bother ME!), Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 50, City : Mesa, State : AZ, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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