Use of the word straight. Just as offensive?

[Amoreyna]

I wouldn't even say the word "gay" is offensive. It's a lifestyle choice with a title, get over it.

No, but to continually define it as "Something Bad" as most heterosexuals use it for, is offensive.

Most heterosexuals? Honestly the only context I use gay in now is when talking about homosexuality. When I was a little girl I used the word gay all the time - but see back then it just meant happy without all this added baggage.

The only time I ever hear the word gay used to denote something bad is on television shows or in movies. Anyone in real life that I know does not use that word at all except in proper context.

Evilbunny: People forget that words are just a random combination of sounds that happen to have some sort of tangiable meaning when said in the right order. Words are not evil, good, holy or threatening - only the people behind them are. Intent is what truly matters. Ask yourself how you use words that you are suddenly uncomfortable with. Are you doing it to fit in, to sound cool, to put a group down, etc? When you answer that question you'll be able to tell whether or not you are doing something wrong.

 

[Fronken]

I wouldn't even say the word "gay" is offensive. It's a lifestyle choice with a title, get over it.

According to every single gay person i have ever known it is NOT a choice, and according to science it is NOT a choice, its something you are born with, you cant help it, only ones who think its a choice is religious fanatics who think that gay people are the scourge of the earth.

So yes, using the word gay is the exact same thing as using the term "black person" or "jew" or "muslim".

And yes, it is offensive if used in the wrong way, its the same thing with all "titles", if used incorrectly they are offensive, but if used with maturity they are acceptable and just another word.

Dude, gay's a choice. You might be born gay but you could totally choose to suppress it. Or, You could be born straight but find women as a personality archetype to be completely insufferable to be around, and therefore get your gun off with men instead, 'cause it's less annoying.

Being a jew or a muslim is a lifestyle choice too by the way. Go and find the "Greek Orthodox gene" and I'll retract that statement.

Call me a religious fanatic again and I swear I'll write a really whiney thread about it. Go on. I dare you. Step to this forum poster's L33T bitching skilz.

By that logic everything is a choice, you can choose to become black or asian through cosmetic surgery, you can choose to become a parapledic through self mutilation instead of being born with a deformity...That logic doesnt work, so saying that being homosexual is a choice is just ignorant, you cant choose what you are attracted to, you cant choose what gets your blood pumping and your willie hard...its NOT a choice.

And while being a certain religion is a choice later in life, what you are born into is NOT a choice, most people who are a part of a certain religion is born into it cause their parents are that religion, so that is partly a choice, but you cant choose what you are born into, thats your parents choice, same thing with birth defects due to alcohol/drugs from the mother, thats not your choice, though you may choose to become retarded later in life by doing really stupid shit and messing up your own brain.

If it was a choice then would you mind explaining why those born homosexual cant perform well with the other sex and live in constant denial of the fact that they are attracted to the same sex?, cause thats the case with every single homosexual person i know, which is 6 guys and 2 girls (that are open about it and i know about).

So not only do i have personal contact with people who all say that it wasnt a choice, not only that, but i also have science on my side, that and every other gay person out there, be they on TV, Radio, Internet or News-papers, they all say the same thing.

So being attracted to the same sex is NOT a choice.

Most things in life are choices. Just because you don't want to be responsible for where you are in life doesn't mean you aren't. And yes, yes you can choose what gives you a raging boner. Just because you have no self control doesn't mean the rest of us are so fatalistic.

What you are born with ends at the genes and physical structure.

I could totally explain to you why homosexuals have such dysfunction with the opposite sex, I've written papers on it for crying out loud. Every level of it is psychological for the massively vast majority. No matter who you know and no matter what they think about it, it is psychological. And before I get an orgy of flaming thrown at me, it's still perfectly okay to be gay. However, I'm not actually going to explain it all to you. If you want the facts, they are out their, extensively documented. Go quench your thirst for knowledge should you feel the need.

And here's the kitchen sink: I may be one of the only people on the planet to have actually sat down with myself and decided, consciously, what my orientation was to be. I considered both, and chose straight. Voila. Choice ************. Peace.

Your ignorance is astounding, that i cannot deny.

And you honestly claim that everyone has control over what they like?, thats just stupid, sure, everyone has self control, but NONE OF US can help it if we like stuff we didnt think we'd like, you can try to deny what you feel all you want, but you wont be happy until you learn to live with yourself and accept how your own mind works.

Sure, perhaps it isnt a genetic fault which causes homosexuality (which it has been proven to be), but you still dont have a choice in it, if its psycological, that means it was something taught to you in childhood or something that influenced you in your childhood, that still is out of your control, you cannot control what your parents do/say when you are young and impressionable.

So unless EVERY HOMOSEXUAL ON THE PLANET is nothing more than a liar, you are wrong.

Face it ************. Peace.

Did you just call homosexuality a genetic fault? Dude. That's not cool. Homophobe.

Okey, fault isnt the correct term; Genetic abnormality.

And yes, seeing as we as humans are supposed to reproduce to make our population bigger, it is an abnormality that causes some of us to be attracted to the same sex, making reproduction impossible by natural means.

And why would i be a homophobe? :S, i have nothing against gay people, im just stating what research by scientists has concluded on the subject.

So dont call me a homophobe when you dont even know me.

 

[Fronken]

I wouldn't even say the word "gay" is offensive. It's a lifestyle choice with a title, get over it.

According to every single gay person i have ever known it is NOT a choice, and according to science it is NOT a choice, its something you are born with, you cant help it, only ones who think its a choice is religious fanatics who think that gay people are the scourge of the earth.

So yes, using the word gay is the exact same thing as using the term "black person" or "jew" or "muslim".

And yes, it is offensive if used in the wrong way, its the same thing with all "titles", if used incorrectly they are offensive, but if used with maturity they are acceptable and just another word.

Dude, gay's a choice. You might be born gay but you could totally choose to suppress it. Or, You could be born straight but find women as a personality archetype to be completely insufferable to be around, and therefore get your gun off with men instead, 'cause it's less annoying.

Being a jew or a muslim is a lifestyle choice too by the way. Go and find the "Greek Orthodox gene" and I'll retract that statement.

Call me a religious fanatic again and I swear I'll write a really whiney thread about it. Go on. I dare you. Step to this forum poster's L33T bitching skilz.

By that logic everything is a choice, you can choose to become black or asian through cosmetic surgery, you can choose to become a parapledic through self mutilation instead of being born with a deformity...That logic doesnt work, so saying that being homosexual is a choice is just ignorant, you cant choose what you are attracted to, you cant choose what gets your blood pumping and your willie hard...its NOT a choice.

And while being a certain religion is a choice later in life, what you are born into is NOT a choice, most people who are a part of a certain religion is born into it cause their parents are that religion, so that is partly a choice, but you cant choose what you are born into, thats your parents choice, same thing with birth defects due to alcohol/drugs from the mother, thats not your choice, though you may choose to become retarded later in life by doing really stupid shit and messing up your own brain.

If it was a choice then would you mind explaining why those born homosexual cant perform well with the other sex and live in constant denial of the fact that they are attracted to the same sex?, cause thats the case with every single homosexual person i know, which is 6 guys and 2 girls (that are open about it and i know about).

So not only do i have personal contact with people who all say that it wasnt a choice, not only that, but i also have science on my side, that and every other gay person out there, be they on TV, Radio, Internet or News-papers, they all say the same thing.

So being attracted to the same sex is NOT a choice.

Most things in life are choices. Just because you don't want to be responsible for where you are in life doesn't mean you aren't. And yes, yes you can choose what gives you a raging boner. Just because you have no self control doesn't mean the rest of us are so fatalistic.

What you are born with ends at the genes and physical structure.

I could totally explain to you why homosexuals have such dysfunction with the opposite sex, I've written papers on it for crying out loud. Every level of it is psychological for the massively vast majority. No matter who you know and no matter what they think about it, it is psychological. And before I get an orgy of flaming thrown at me, it's still perfectly okay to be gay. However, I'm not actually going to explain it all to you. If you want the facts, they are out their, extensively documented. Go quench your thirst for knowledge should you feel the need.

And here's the kitchen sink: I may be one of the only people on the planet to have actually sat down with myself and decided, consciously, what my orientation was to be. I considered both, and chose straight. Voila. Choice ************. Peace.

Your ignorance is astounding, that i cannot deny.

And you honestly claim that everyone has control over what they like?, thats just stupid, sure, everyone has self control, but NONE OF US can help it if we like stuff we didnt think we'd like, you can try to deny what you feel all you want, but you wont be happy until you learn to live with yourself and accept how your own mind works.

Sure, perhaps it isnt a genetic fault which causes homosexuality (which it has been proven to be), but you still dont have a choice in it, if its psycological, that means it was something taught to you in childhood or something that influenced you in your childhood, that still is out of your control, you cannot control what your parents do/say when you are young and impressionable.

So unless EVERY HOMOSEXUAL ON THE PLANET is nothing more than a liar, you are wrong.

Face it ************. Peace.

Did you just call homosexuality a genetic fault? Dude. That's not cool. Homophobe.

Okey, fault isnt the correct term; Genetic abnormality.

And yes, seeing as we as humans are supposed to reproduce to make our population bigger, it is an abnormality that causes some of us to be attracted to the same sex, making reproduction impossible by natural means.

And why would i be a homophobe? :S, i have nothing against gay people, im just stating what research by scientists has concluded on the subject.

So dont call me a homophobe when you dont even know me.

You've called me enough at this point that I know enough about you to know that I don't want to know you. Do some actual research and shut up.

Wait WHAT!?

You were the first one to bring up names in this discussion, i wanted to keep it mature but YOU started calling me stuff, starting with ************, then you went on to call me a Homophobe.

So dont try and blame me cause you cant be mature enough to keep a discussion going without namecalling.

And about the research, i have done my research, i have done Alot of research, medical journals, documentaries and various tv-programs, why?, cause one of my best friends turned out to be a homosexual, so i wanted to know more about it so i didnt make him feel bad.

Why dont you go and do some research instead and stop being an arrogant ***** about it, You lost the discussion, You're wrong, FACE IT! and stop humiliating yourself by going off topic to nit-pick my posts, it only prooves how big of an arrogant jerk you are.

 

[MadMikey]

I just wanna know why it is that homosexuals have the right to steal a word which originally was used to mean happy and joyful...as in the Christmas song we had to sing in elementary school..."Don we now our gay apparel". I'm fairly certain that the author of said carol didn't mean that at Christmas we dress up like the folks in San Fran do during Carnivale. So now when non-homosexuals take the word from them and start using it to describe something they don't approve of or think is wierd, how is that anymore wrong. My kids have now informed me that there is a difference between gay and homosexual in modern context...elaborating that someone who seems effeminate, if male; or butch/manish, if female....if GAY. That doesn't mean they are homosexual, only that they act as if they are the opposite gender by way of cultural norms. This distinguishes them from those who if you met on the street you would have no cultural indications that they might be homosexuals. I experienced this when a business associate, who up until then I had no idea was in fact homosexual, introduced me to his partner who was very definately GAY by the definition that my kids used. He told me later that he wished he'd had a camera because my jaw literally dropped like you see in cartoons. We both had a good laugh and no one was offended.

I guess what I am saying is all this fussing over word usage and what is or isn't offensive seems like alot of mental masturbation to me. I think there are way to many people that worry way too much about being offensive. I find the security guard at work who bathes in perfume way more offensive than someone calling me a cracker or a geek. I don't know. I think words are over-rated as a way to hurt others. My mom used to tell me stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. I think everyone just needs a thicker skin and should get over themselves!

 

[SeaCalMaster]

Let's get a few things straight:

1. Being gay is NOT a choice.
2. There is nothing unnatural about being gay (homosexuality does exist in nature, after all).
3. Being gay is not just about gay sex.

You're going to have to explain #2 on your list there dude, I don't have a wealth of animal knowledge, but can you point out an instance what animal has gone on record for doing the nasty with a member of the same sex.

As for #1, no I don't think its a choice. I think its a psychological state of mind that grew out of either the environment the person lived in as a child, constantly being called gay or afemenant as a child, sexual confusion as a teen that gets dricted wrongly by those around the person, having parents that are very overbearing about their child turning out gay, or that society paints it very black and white in terms of being gay or straight when someone could simply be sexually curious.

Nature is all about survival, eg. reproduction and the continuation of the species. Sorry bud, but claiming that being gay is part of nature (without proof to back it up no less) comes off as being a very ignorant, very overzealous statement.

I'll beat you to the point on this one, no I'm not homophobic. Gay people are still people and I treat them as such. I have gay friends, not several gay friends, but gay friends none the less I'm perfectly comfortable hanging out with. The idea of homophobia is a rather silly idea. While there are people sexually insecure enough to literally nearly lose their cool when around gay people, to call someone homophoic simply because they don't support the gay/lesbian cause is an ignorant way to defend something.

Oh and another thing, yes, it does piss me off when people go on a "We're here, we're queer, get used to it" tangent. Ok, you're gay, big freaking deal that doesn't make you a special citizen. You want to get married? Fine, go right ahead and pay marriage taxes like the rest of us. And that goes for all you f'ing activist groups out there. Don't shove you're cause down our throats with the same ignorance and intolerance that you claim us to have. Doing so only fosters more hate and intolerance.

In fact, this whole thread is just a ticking flame war time bomb that needs to be shut down before it gets ugly. There are two things you tend not to talk about in a public setting: Religion and Politics. This falls under both, magnifying the bar fight with banjo background music that is sure to break out in time.

Let the responses of anger and misplaced, zealous, hypocritic passion commence.

RAWRRRR!!!!!

Here it is.
[a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html"]http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html[/a]

 

[Ago Iterum]

I wouldn't even say the word "gay" is offensive. It's a lifestyle choice with a title, get over it.

According to every single gay person i have ever known it is NOT a choice, and according to science it is NOT a choice, its something you are born with, you cant help it, only ones who think its a choice is religious fanatics who think that gay people are the scourge of the earth.

So yes, using the word gay is the exact same thing as using the term "black person" or "jew" or "muslim".

And yes, it is offensive if used in the wrong way, its the same thing with all "titles", if used incorrectly they are offensive, but if used with maturity they are acceptable and just another word.

Dude, gay's a choice. You might be born gay but you could totally choose to suppress it. Or, You could be born straight but find women as a personality archetype to be completely insufferable to be around, and therefore get your gun off with men instead, 'cause it's less annoying.

Being a jew or a muslim is a lifestyle choice too by the way. Go and find the "Greek Orthodox gene" and I'll retract that statement.

Call me a religious fanatic again and I swear I'll write a really whiney thread about it. Go on. I dare you. Step to this forum poster's L33T bitching skilz.

By that logic everything is a choice, you can choose to become black or asian through cosmetic surgery, you can choose to become a parapledic through self mutilation instead of being born with a deformity...That logic doesnt work, so saying that being homosexual is a choice is just ignorant, you cant choose what you are attracted to, you cant choose what gets your blood pumping and your willie hard...its NOT a choice.

And while being a certain religion is a choice later in life, what you are born into is NOT a choice, most people who are a part of a certain religion is born into it cause their parents are that religion, so that is partly a choice, but you cant choose what you are born into, thats your parents choice, same thing with birth defects due to alcohol/drugs from the mother, thats not your choice, though you may choose to become retarded later in life by doing really stupid shit and messing up your own brain.

If it was a choice then would you mind explaining why those born homosexual cant perform well with the other sex and live in constant denial of the fact that they are attracted to the same sex?, cause thats the case with every single homosexual person i know, which is 6 guys and 2 girls (that are open about it and i know about).

So not only do i have personal contact with people who all say that it wasnt a choice, not only that, but i also have science on my side, that and every other gay person out there, be they on TV, Radio, Internet or News-papers, they all say the same thing.

So being attracted to the same sex is NOT a choice.

Most things in life are choices. Just because you don't want to be responsible for where you are in life doesn't mean you aren't. And yes, yes you can choose what gives you a raging boner. Just because you have no self control doesn't mean the rest of us are so fatalistic.

What you are born with ends at the genes and physical structure.

I could totally explain to you why homosexuals have such dysfunction with the opposite sex, I've written papers on it for crying out loud. Every level of it is psychological for the massively vast majority. No matter who you know and no matter what they think about it, it is psychological. And before I get an orgy of flaming thrown at me, it's still perfectly okay to be gay. However, I'm not actually going to explain it all to you. If you want the facts, they are out their, extensively documented. Go quench your thirst for knowledge should you feel the need.

And here's the kitchen sink: I may be one of the only people on the planet to have actually sat down with myself and decided, consciously, what my orientation was to be. I considered both, and chose straight. Voila. Choice ************. Peace.

Your ignorance is astounding, that i cannot deny.

And you honestly claim that everyone has control over what they like?, thats just stupid, sure, everyone has self control, but NONE OF US can help it if we like stuff we didnt think we'd like, you can try to deny what you feel all you want, but you wont be happy until you learn to live with yourself and accept how your own mind works.

Sure, perhaps it isnt a genetic fault which causes homosexuality (which it has been proven to be), but you still dont have a choice in it, if its psycological, that means it was something taught to you in childhood or something that influenced you in your childhood, that still is out of your control, you cannot control what your parents do/say when you are young and impressionable.

So unless EVERY HOMOSEXUAL ON THE PLANET is nothing more than a liar, you are wrong.

Face it ************. Peace.

Did you just call homosexuality a genetic fault? Dude. That's not cool. Homophobe.

Okey, fault isnt the correct term; Genetic abnormality.

And yes, seeing as we as humans are supposed to reproduce to make our population bigger, it is an abnormality that causes some of us to be attracted to the same sex, making reproduction impossible by natural means.

And why would i be a homophobe? :S, i have nothing against gay people, im just stating what research by scientists has concluded on the subject.

So dont call me a homophobe when you dont even know me.

You've called me enough at this point that I know enough about you to know that I don't want to know you. Do some actual research and shut up.

Wait WHAT!?

You were the first one to bring up names in this discussion, i wanted to keep it mature but YOU started calling me stuff, starting with ************, then you went on to call me a Homophobe.

So dont try and blame me cause you cant be mature enough to keep a discussion going without namecalling.

And about the research, i have done my research, i have done Alot of research, medical journals, documentaries and various tv-programs, why?, cause one of my best friends turned out to be a homosexual, so i wanted to know more about it so i didnt make him feel bad.

Why dont you go and do some research instead and stop being an arrogant ***** about it, You lost the discussion, You're wrong, FACE IT! and stop humiliating yourself by going off topic to nit-pick my posts, it only prooves how big of an arrogant jerk you are.

prooves, eh? hah.

But anyway.

You want back on track, that's fine. It's fine to call gay people gay and straight people straight. I didn't invent the nomenclature, nor am I responsible for its acceptance.

And it is a choice. With genetic backup. But there is not a single genetic basis for homosexuality at its core.

I can tell where you're coming from. You probably were a homophobe at one point in your life. I know I was. Didn't understand it. It was gross. But then your pal turns out to be one and you want to understand it. You want to understand what causes it, how he'd changed. The problem is that you can't wonder about what causes homosexuality without asking what causes heterosexuality, because neither had been adequately addressed until recently.

At this point I'm not even interested in this flame war anymore. I just want to educate you. Because you need it.

http://dbem.ws/Exotic%20Becomes%20Erotic.pdf

One of the articles I used in my paper last year. I hope you find it enlightening. And, by the way? My aunt is a lesbian. And she's married. I'm the godfather of her second child. So now that you've been served all over the place, pick up your ass, shut up, and go get laid.

This shit's crazy.

Homosexuality can be suppressed/eradicated through hypnosis, which doesn't whatsoever alter your mind in any way that it couldn't itself, it just unlocks parts of your mind that were there before. We all have the ability to be straight/gay, and we can all (with help) change seuality. It's been proven.

Now as to whether it's a disfunction or not, yeah, it obviously is a disfunction if a race such as ours, that's born to breed (like every other animal in existance) doesn't have the desire to breed. We're a more intelligent race than the rest, so we've given ourselves the ability to accept problems like it, and work around them.

But then again, dogs bum each other in the streets, same sex or not.

Maybe we're all just a little bit gay, which comes back to my 'it's an unconcious choice' statement. Hmm...

By the way, I'm off topic because the answer to the topic is so obvious it shouldn't be stated. Words have several meanings, it's that simple.

 

[ender214]

I look at the use of the word "gay" the same way I look at the word "retarded". Is it offensive to some? Yes. But so many people use it that no one really cares enough to change it. For example, if you call a black person a "******", you'll probably get told to back off by both black people and non-black people. However, if you use the word gay, at least in my experience, no one really cares.

 

[CrafterMan]

Hahaha oh man,

This is hilarious as my friend who is a homosexual, always jokes about this. Like I introduced another friend to him and this is how the conversation went.

"Hey man, nice to meet you, how have you been"

"F***ing gay mate, pretty gay all round *while shaking his hand viscerally*, so how's things you STRAIGHT bastard!"

The look on my mates face was just so bloody hilarious..

 

[Rolling Thunder]

To all those who thanked me for my prose: You are welcome.

To cball: Terry Prattchet's Night watch

To those who fail to see my rationale, here it is again, in the vain hope you will figure it out if I repeat it:

The argument as to whether homosexuality is a genetic matter or a psychological matter or anything else is one that continues to rage today. I seek to bypass it by presenting homosexuality as a matter that is of no concern to anyone but the person practicing it, establishing it as a right much like free speech or tying enjoying being spanked, etc- a minor, entirely unoffensive deviation from a fairly nonexistant norm that is in no way to be judged or regarded by others as right or wrong. Much like we do with religion or other matters of personal freedom- one may dislike it, but one cannot challenge to right to practition it.

 

[SeaCalMaster]

Ow political correctness debate hurt my head...

Has anyone here actually asked a gay person if they find it offensive? It's not to prove a point or anything, I'm just wondering.

I've actually asked a lot of gay people this. The general consensus is that, while it's not the most bigoted thing you could say, it's still offensive.

 

[Late-Night-Conversation]

I've never actually heard the term 'straight' used in that sense... I'm not sure how to react. If you think of 'straight' as being opposite to 'queer' in the original sense of the word (i.e., bent, odd, unconventional) then I suppose it could work in the same way it does when I say, 'nah, I'm right' in the same context.

But by the way, as a gay person, I can tell you that it annoys me (and pretty much every other GLBT person I know) when people use the term 'gay' as an insult. I won't normally make anything of it, some of my friends do it and I won't bring it up, but it does sting, and it can be kind of depressing. Not because it particularly offends at the time but merely because it reflects a society where everybody sees it as okay and a logical term.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

stuff stuffity stuff

I don't think a sexually confused person should comment on the psychology of sexuality until they fully understand it.

Also, heterosexuals, homophobic or not, really don't seem to understand at all.

I'm not sexually confused at all. I'm bisexual but only just a little bit. Either way, if you think I don't understand the discrimination homosexuals go through then you can go take a long walk on a short pier.

 

[Mizaki]

I'm not sexually confused at all. I'm bisexual but only just a little bit. Either way, if you think I don't understand the discrimination homosexuals go through then you can go take a long walk on a short pier.

Right now. At this moment. I just ran out of srsbiz debate steam because this is just too ridiculous. In fact, I was just chuckling at this, and I attempted numerous times to do this post, and just couldn't think of the right words. Now this thread is too silly for me to take seriously. I already said multiple times things that cannot be argued with and they were-- in typical forum fashion, ignored and glossed over. "Get over it" is never really a great argument tactic because.. well, negatively charged word + previous negative usage against person who is offended = person is offended. What is so hard about that? And it is STILL irrelevant whether or not having gay sex is a choice or not because, as it was said before, so is eating and sitting. But to suppress eating is anorexia and that is unhealthy. Get it? Hopefully now that I've repeated myself, it's a bit clearer. Seriously, it's laughable now that certain folk in this thread refuse to get it because they think they're oh so smawwwt and now it's personal insult tiem!!!!

 

[Grenbyron]

I'm thinking there are better things to think about than what slang word a person is using. That we have people that dedicate even an afterthought to this kind of thing is annoying. The world has so many other issues worth thinking about.

 

[GunnerGraye]

Thank you for your wholehearted agreement sir. Nice to find like-minded people.

Likewise.

 

[sneak_copter]

For me, using the word "gay" to mean bad isn't offensive.
No gay people I have ever met have found it to be offensive.
So, if using gay isn't offensive, then neither is straight.