Back in The Day, whenever I or my friends would find something not to our liking, it was perfectly reasonable to say it was “gay.” As in, “Ghostbusters 2 was gay, don’t see it.” Or, “I got a parking ticket for parking in the teacher parking lot. That’s gay.”
Of course, this was the 80’s and the whole gay-tolerance thing wasn’t really that much of a thing (at least, among my peer group of teens in central Illinois), and attitudes have changed.
Of course, the usage still goes on. Ferinstance, on a recent episode of Family Guy a character expressed disdain for a situation by saying “Well that’s gay.”
So what’s the deal nowadays? Do gays generally regard this as a bad thing, or is it understood as a relic of older slang?
FWIW, a gay friend in my fantasy football league will himself say things like “I lost last weekend because of Cutler’s interceptions. That’s gay.”
I didn’t vote because I’m not gay, but I think its indisputably a slur. I don’t use it for that reason. There are other words I can use that serve the same (or, better, actually) purpose. Once you try, you’ll find it isn’t that hard to drop.
I’m a terribly uncouth person. I will say something is “gay,” provided the person I’m slurring isn’t actually a homosexual. I’ve had gay friends call me out for it before, however, and so I’m more careful not to use it as reflexively as I once did.
My gay friends, however, reserve the right to call something gay. One of my colleagues from school who is gay was sick and tired about me whining about an assignment, and told me to “buck up, faggot.” But I think we had just seen a stand-up routine where this was used ironically (Louis CK?), so there’s a context.
ok.so it is like donald trump saying 'blacks"…back in the day that would not be offensive but NO it is…so what “term” do we use if not 'gay" to be correct and nonoffensive??
I do not believe in forbidden words or words that are restricted to one group. To that end, as a gay man, I don’t use gay to mean bad, nor do I call myself a faggot or queer, because I don’t want to hear others call me that. The words we use shape our opinions and values and I respect their power.
The OP isn’t about using the word “gay”-it’s about using the word “gay” as a synonym for "lame. The solution is obvious, of course.
If you want to say something or someone is “lame”, just use the word “lame.”
Straight female, and I find it offensive. I used to use it when I was in high school, but this was back in the early to mid 1990s. C’mon, people, grow up and find another word.
My fiance uses the term but I do not. I know he doesn’t mean to cause offense, however, my favorite niece is a lesbian and I choose to not to use it no matter the context.
I’m gay and it doesn’t really bother me, so I voted “meh”
But then again, I’m not easily offended. My parents used to call cigarettes fags, so when someone uses that word, I instantly think of cigarettes, not a slur.
Not gay, so I’m not offended, but whenever I hear somebody use that word, I think of them as a 14 year old. I won’t lie, I used it when I was a teenager, but pretty much everyone I know grew out of it by the time they graduated high school. And there wasn’t even that much of a backlash back then.
