You know, when people say “That’s so gay” in lieu of “That’s so lame”
Could it be considered hate speech or offensive?
I suggest doing a search in the Pit, and maybe GD. (I won’t now 'cause it’s a high traffic time). This has been discussed approximately 9,042,843 times.
Short answer - yes.
It’s not hate speech in the sense that it’s designed to get people to go out and beat up gays, but yes, it is offensive, and yes, it is harmful.
Well, I disagree. On the rare occasion that I use the term as described, it’s with the stereotype in mind of an effete, ineffectual, timid, unable-to-cope-with-simple-household repairs character or the leather-clad Village People biker, i.e. the more extreme/flamboyant elements within the gay community. I know these aren’t typical patterns of behaviour and when I say something is “gay”, I don’t feel hatred or expect to inspire it in others.
It could be considered hate speech or offensive. So could a lot of things.
You’re reinforcing a stereotype. In addition, you’re contributing to the notion that “gay = bad”, which goes a long way towards dehumanizing gay people. Besides, unless we can read your mind, how are we to know that you’re thinking this?
You’re not to know what I’m thinking under any cicrumstances, unless I tell you (and I might be lying). Being a (mostly) reasonable person, however, I’m disinclined to use phrases among people if I know it offends them, unless I want to offend them, which is a useful tactic on occasion.
Besides, saying something is gay when it so obviously adheres to the well-established stereotype is more like irony than commentary, like watching a weightlifter set a record and saying “I bet he’s strong.”
I second the recommendation that you do a search, this has been discussed to death on this board.
that said, my personal opinion is that it is not hate speech. It is, however, ignorant and possibly offensive. Personally, I would never use the term that way. Then again, I can’t recall hearing anyone else use it that way(outside of this board) since I was in 6th grade. Until I saw how obsessed the SDMB was with the whole gay=lame thing, I wasn’t aware that adults ever said it.
I heard it used this past weekend by the mother of a friend. “Oh, I don’t mean gay as homosexual, I mean it as weak/lame/bad.”
Whenever that happens when I can’t control the situation it just feels so disgusting. When I can control it I laugh and point out, being as light as I can, how it’s insulting.
gay=lame is hate speech in my book.
I should clarify what I said a bit. I said it wasn’t hate speech, but it would be more accurate to say that it can be hate speech, but most people don’t intend that way. I think it is ignorant and offensive regardless of intent, but I don’t think you should classify anything as hate speech without taking intent into account. Hate is a strong word, and I think it lessens the importance of classifying something as hateful to say that anything that is offensive is automatically hate.
As I said, I haven’t really heard this used much since I was a kid. I’ll admit that when I was in elementry school I used Gay as a synonym for lame. However, when I said it, I intended it as Gay=Lame, not Homosexual=Bad. I hope that made sense. I think in that situation, I was behaving ignorantly, because I never asssociated it as being literal. I never said it hatefully, I was just ignorant of the offensive connotations.
Isn’t “lame”=<general negative sentiment> insulting to people who are physically disabled? That is what “lame” originally meant. I don’t know if “lame”=“gay” is hate speech, but I have used this expression from time-to-time and I don’t harbor a hatred for homosexuals. I do know that a breif study of linguistics will reveal that many words- especially slang terms- change meaning as time passes. “Queer” once meant “strange.” It then became a hate-term used to bash homosexuality. Later, it then went on to be “claimed” by a large portion of the homosexual community as a rally-point against those who condemned them.
So what are we going to do? Start throwing people in jail anytime somebody says “Oh that is so gay!”
Is the word “gay” sacred now or something?
Ever hear of free speech?
For the record, if I want to say something is lame, I say it’s lame. I can see how gay=lame could be offensive to some, but to put it on the same level as, oh, real hate speech (think Naziesque stuff) is laughable.
Using the term gay=lame is not going to inspire anybody to go out and kill someone gay. Does it denote a disapproval for the gay lifestyle? Yes, but ya know what? That’s just too bad. As much as people holler about homosexuality being equal to heterosexuality, some people are always going to disapprove and there is not a thing you can do about it.
Unless you want to throw someone in jail for merely disapproving of (insert people group here) and expressing it. And from what I see some activists say from time to time, I wonder if that’s not what the goal is.
Every once in a while, this term slips out of my bicurious mouth. I stop, look at myself, kick myself in the ass and move on.
Unfortunately, it’s a ‘usage’ that kinda slipped into the english language. Good? No. I think it’ll probably fall out of general usage in a few years (how many people don’t have gay friends now?)
WV_Woman, I wonder if you could be so kind as to point out exactly where anyone even suggested throwing people in jail for anything? Or is this like when you said athiests want to outlaw the use of the word god? :rolleyes:
I find it really irritating when people use the word gay like that, but I’m not usually offended unless I think they intend it to be offensive. It’s a question of how it’s said more than what is said. OTOH, I don’t think it’s ever ok to use it like that, just occasionally ‘not so bad’.
However, WV_Woman I do find offensive. Please desist from posting until you manage to grow a brain, Ok? Thanks.
By the way, unless I’m missing something you can’t do a search for this: Gay is only 3 letters long, and thus can’t be included as a search word.
Whoa there. OK, you don’t like WV’s opinion on the matter-- theres no need to resort to personal attacks. Her phrasing might be a bit in your face, but she raises some fundamentally valid points (in her own particular idiom) pertaining to freedom of expression.
You’re absolutely right, WV_Woman. Everyone has the right to use the word ‘gay’ however they choose. But everyone else has the equal right to think that they are dumbarse jerk as a result of their use of that word. And then they have the right to say how much of dumbarse jerk that person is, and how offensive it is.
Please think about this very carefully; you seem to be unable to comprehend the difference between an expression of dislike for something and a wish to ban it.
I fail to see any valid points concerning freedom of expression in WV_Woman’s post. Last time I checked, the opinions of people on the SDMB do not carry with them the weight of law. Therefore, there really is no 1st Amendment issue here. Freedom of speech does not mean that you are free to say anything you like and no one is allowed to take issue with it.
I guess we should all start using “woman” in the same sense, like Oh, it is sooo woman to spill coffee on yourself, or You are such a woman!
I don’t know if you would think this is offensive, but I know a lot of women who would. Or how about “american” or “VW Woman” as synonims for “stupid”?
sigh
Now that my intent has been thoroughly misunderstood and I have somehow managed to hijack this thread (sorry, Hubzilla)…
I was not agreeing with WV, nor was I disagreeing with her. I was simply objecting to the “Please desist from posting until you manage to grow a brain” remark made by Kitarak. Name calling/insults are childish, they are not conducive to any sort of reasonable discourse, and they ultimately derail a thread entirely-- look where we are now. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Emotional, knee-jerk “Yeah, well you’re stupid!!!” reactions are natural. Posting these reactions doesn’t really help anyone (perhaps in the pit, but thats what its there for). Thats all I have to say about it.
I must have missed the 9,042,843 previous posts, here are my 2 cents:
Of course it is! Where have you been the past 15 years, living under a rock?
I’m outraged that such incendiary speech is still acceptable in some social circles in the United States.
If you ever slip up and post that vile, venomous adjective in any way other that its’ accepted usage, I hope you’re banned from these boards and have your internet service disconnected by judicial decree.
Do you realize how insensitive you are & how many people you’re hurting?
For crying out loud, I have two close friends, a grandmother, a great uncle and a pet duck that would be devistated if they ever heard you utter the word lame in such a negative context.