# Why is "Gay Agenda" a pejorative? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318 "2017-07-15T15:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/1 "2017-07-15T15:14:16Z")
Please forgive me if I sound obtuse, but when I hear the words: “gay agenda”, I immediately think: “Gays fighting to have the same rights everyone else has” (Mainly before SSM) And that’s not a bad thing at all. That’s a good thing. Am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/2 "2017-07-15T15:17:07Z")
Nope, that’s exactly what it is. And it is a good thing, unless you’re homophobic. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/3 "2017-07-15T15:20:09Z")
The people who used that term were implying that gays had an agenda that differed from the things “normal, decent” people wanted. They wanted to impose their “lifestyle” on others and force them to be accepted. It’s the idea that drove such nonsensical ideas as SSM somehow ruining traditional marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/4 "2017-07-15T15:37:32Z")
Have you SEEN their agenda? Lisa Frank is fun, but not when you want to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/5 "2017-07-15T16:05:18Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Please forgive me if I sound obtuse, but when I hear the words: “gay agenda”, I immediately think: “Gays fighting to have the same rights everyone else has” (Mainly before SSM) > > And that’s not a bad thing at all. That’s a good thing. > > Am I missing something here? Totally without an extensive analysis of the actual body of usage: Gay’s rights = “Gays fighting to have the same rights everyone else has” Gay agenda = Them homersexuals are trying to make my grandbabies gay with them there parades and homersexuals kissing on TV ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/6 "2017-07-15T16:09:34Z")
Saying someone “has an agenda” isn’t necessarily implying something bad in all contexts, I guess. But it often implies motives that are self-serving and hidden from others. PS: my co-worker used to refer to our boss’s “gaygenda,” which was okay because it’s funny and he was her ex-husband. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/7 "2017-07-15T16:39:40Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Please forgive me if I sound obtuse, but when I hear the words: “gay agenda”, I immediately think: “Gays fighting to have the same rights everyone else has” (Mainly before SSM) > > And that’s not a bad thing at all. That’s a good thing. > > Am I missing something here? Heh, I just used that term, ironically, on this MB this morning. For some on the anti-gay side, there was a sense that there some conspiracy by gays to “take over”. Not sure what, exactly, they were supposed to be taking over, but it’s just a general feeling that “they are up to no good”. Maybe even recruiting more people to be gay, or something. If you remember the episode where Ellen came out to the character played by Laura Dern, there is a scene at the end where she is given her toaster-oven for meeting her recruitment goals. It was very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/8 "2017-07-15T17:08:00Z")
Because the only people who actually use the term imply that it’s not just “seeking equal rights”. It’s like if someone talks about the “feminist orthodoxy” - do you think they have a positive opinion of said orthodoxy? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/9 "2017-07-15T17:13:54Z")
Because having equal rights is somehow threatening to some people. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/10 "2017-07-15T17:29:59Z")
[Conservapedia](http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexual_Agenda) is actually useful at times, to see what Conservatives think the issue is. According to them: > [@](#): > > The **Homosexual Agenda** is a self-centered set of beliefs and objectives designed to promote and even mandate approval of homosexuality and homosexual ideology, along with the strategies used to implement such. … The goals and means of this movement include indoctrinating students in public school, restricting the free speech of opposition, obtaining special treatment for homosexuals, distorting Biblical teaching and science, and interfering with freedom of association. Advocates of the homosexual agenda seek special rights for homosexuals and self-described ‘LGBTI people’ that other people don’t have, such as immunity from criticism (see hate speech, hate crimes). Such special rights will necessarily come at the expense of the rights of broader society. _ **The homosexual agenda is the biggest threat to the right of free speech today.** _ (emphasis _not_ mine) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/11 "2017-07-15T17:45:01Z")
If you’d asked some people a few years ago, they’d have said the gay agenda was about destroying moral values and replacing them with with orgies, the elimination of marriage in favor of a different partner every night, so that children didn’t have stable homes (but gays don’t have children, so they don’t think of that!) and people walking around in outlandish clothes that are not only garish, but blur the distinction between men and women. Seriously, some people thought gay people wanted to turn America into a cross between a drag show, and a hippie commune where everyone slept with everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/12 "2017-07-15T17:49:19Z")
This sort of thing always reminds me of this debate between William F Buckley and some Moral Majority guy back in the early 1980’s. The MM guy was claiming that if Cocaine was legalized, _everyone_ would be doing cocaine. Buckley said “I won’t be. Will you?” The MM guy stammered and Buckley said, “Ok, so not everyone then?” My former gamer buddy’s psycho wife was constantly on about this stuff while Obama was President. How they’re going to force people in the military to be gay :rolleyes: and stuff like that. Just alarmist statements to cover up their own discomfort with things outside of their carefully constructed little boxes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/13 "2017-07-15T17:53:44Z")
Oh, and let’s not forget Pedophilia. Won’t _someone_ think of the children? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/14 "2017-07-15T18:10:07Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > [Conservapedia](http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexual_Agenda) is actually useful at times, to see what Conservatives think the issue is. According to them: > > (emphasis _not_ mine) That is some batshit crazy right there. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/15 "2017-07-15T18:31:43Z")
The Real Gay Agenda: To have the same rights as every other citizen and to be allowed to pursue their own happiness just as everyone else does. Honestly, if anyone thinks it is otherwise, you’re listening to the wrong people. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/16 "2017-07-15T18:39:56Z")
I have always felt that the term “gay agenda” was rather demeaning and degrading as well, since it implies that “gays” aren’t individuals, with the same variety of motivations, drives and ideals as “regular folk,” but are a monolithic “them” to be fought reflexively. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/17 "2017-07-15T18:45:53Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > . . . to turn America into a cross between a drag show, and a hippie commune where everyone slept with everyone. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/18 "2017-07-15T18:50:51Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Send $20 and a self-addressed, stamped envelop… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/19 "2017-07-15T18:56:10Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > If you’d asked some people a few years ago, they’d have said the gay agenda was about destroying moral values and replacing them with with orgies, the elimination of marriage in favor of a different partner every night, so that children didn’t have stable homes (but gays don’t have children, so they don’t think of that!) and people walking around in outlandish clothes that are not only garish, but blur the distinction between men and women. > > Seriously, some people thought gay people wanted to turn America into a cross between a drag show, and a hippie commune where everyone slept with everyone. So, that’s an exaggeration. But it’s not completely disjoint from what might be called the liberal agenda. Here are some actual liberal ideals that map roughly to those: Sex between consenting adults is okay, even if they aren’t married to each other. (And with the permission of anyone they are married to.) People who aren’t comfortable in the sex role they are assigned at birth should be tolerated, and allowed to take on the trappings of the sex role they prefer. Or even call themselves non-binary and hover between sex roles. People wearing unusual cloths in public should be tolerated and treated with respect. Hmm, even liberals mostly support stable homes for children, but think it’s okay of those homes are headed by two women, or two men, or three people in a mutually committed relationship. More liberal than gay, but hey, close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318/20 "2017-07-15T19:22:18Z")
“Agenda” makes anything sound bad. “Hillary Clinton is trying to get her policy platform enacted” = might sound good. “Hillary Clinton is going around trying to promote her agenda” = sounds self-serving, cunning, and power-hungry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gay-agenda-a-pejorative/791318.md?page=2)