what are you doing in public?

It seems to me that the use of the word in a derogatory sense had faded away, but, there apppears to have been a major resurgence over the past few years.

Ironic homophobia: the new rock and roll?

the fact that the word gay ever came to mean homosexual is in itself evidence of the fluid nature of language, so in that sense it makes no sense to claim it is evidence of homophobia.

On the other hand, the fact that gay has now become a term of derision derives from attitudes to homosexuality...

we'll look back and be slightly embarrassed that this was as commonplace as it is

And that's coming from somebody who says it himself

South Park does it too, although they might try to use the Bernard Manning 'we offend everyone equally excuse'.

I'm aware most people who do it aren't being homophoic but the use of the word as a derogatory term stems from attitudes to sexuality and so it doesn't make me comfortable.

I'm also curious to know how many people'd use gay as a derogatory term in the presence of a homosexual who they had not met before? And if they weren't comfortable to use it then but were the rest of the time I'd be interested to know why that was.

god that cracks me up everytime.

I am now pretty indifferent to it. The perceived homophobia implicit in using "gay" to mean "rubbish" is not even present in 99% of the usages of the term in that sense. I have never met a gay person who was offended by this. The people who are seem to be uptight straightlords. No offence.

i.e. it's REALLY not a big deal.

i do use it. not as much as i used to but i still use it. i probably shouldn't but i'm quite lazy.

about gay. It's a nice sounding word so I guess it doesn't feel bad or bring around any negativity. I wouldn't feel embarassed saying it in front of a gay person either.

I'm uncomfortable about "fag" though, for sure.

but it is low level and thus most people think that you are being 'pcist' rather than 'equalitist'

Since we are trying to convince the ,majority to be tolerant and accepting then it can prove counter productive to be seen as pcist, of course it may not be counter productive too, I may be wrong on this one, I've kind of given up on this and occssionally join in but argue the more important and win ble battles.

You are right though.

childish.

this ended up turning into a bit of a joke though as the word is now so commonly used that im immune to it. i dont think it is very offensive anymore as there is no meaning behind it.

and yes, i've used it in front of gay people i haven't known before (because its so a part of the vocabulary of the people i hang around with that its just automatic) and gay people have called me it too.

i probably wouldn't say it but i can see why people do. when you say 'that's gay' you don't mean it's homosexual, you mean it's a bit funny, no, as in 'isn't that a bit queer'. To me something being 'gay' or 'queer', generally, and not in the terms of human relationships, but in general language means 'a bit odd'.

and gay when its about homos!!

but i love gay people, i even have a gay friend, he used to help me chose my wardrobe!!!!!!11"121!!!

http://www.familywatchdog.us/ViewOffenderDetails.asp?oID=oh33337&aID=&at=1&sid=&sp=1&nm=

shows up people who do it as inferior. ALL INFERIOR LIFE MUST BE DESTROYED!

watched the video yet???? its a bit shitily made, but gets the point accross much better than me....

see that kid playing the guitar?? that is what your children will become if you dont stop using the word out of ignorance!

The thing about it is that as a word it has a fantastic denunciatory quality to it. "This is so GAY." Brilliant, never fails.

it makes me genuinely angry that people i like do this. mostly because i know of friendships have been ruined by certain parties not realising they were saying 'thats so gay' in a derogatory way every five seconds in front of people who were gay and couldn't face coming out because of it.

people that say 'oh dont take it so seriously' are basically being as idiotic as people who make racist jokes and say 'oh you're so politically correct, we're on having a laugh, some of my best friends are black'... it's not being politically correct, it's being kind enough not to use an important part of many people's lives as a word to describe shit things.

*seeths*

and don't, for a second, associate it with homosexuality.
And anyway, a person's sexuality is supposed to be arbitrary aspect of their character. If someone is acting "gay" then that just means they're being annoying, not that they're being "typically homosexual".
Though I can see why it would annoy people, and I should probably cut down. I watch south park too much.