Gay. Fag. Queer.
When did Americans become so politically correct? (Note heavy use of sarcasm.)
The American public is really big on freedom. Everyone wants things like the freedom of religion, the freedom of press, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition the government for the redress of grievances – what, not that one? Oh.
One freedom it seems the founding fathers may have forgotten, however, is the freedom from oppressive words and bigoted remarks. For too long, Americans have used certain words to describe things that have absolutely no relevance to the word being used.
Ugh, that movie was so brunette. Ugh, that movie was so gay.
Neither of the above sentences make much sense, unless, of course, the word “gay” is referring to the Encarta Dictionary definition of “full of light-heartedness and merriment,” which it probably isn’t.
When did it become OK for us to use these words that allude to a homosexual lifestyle as negative adjectives? Beyond the fact that it is just poor grammar, it’s not respectful and not appropriate.
The United States was founded as a nation of equality and acceptance, and it is important to realize that discrimination comes in more forms than labeled water fountains and segregated schools.
Every time any one of us uses the word “fag” to put down a friend, or “queer” to talk about something we hate, we perpetuate this idea that homosexuals should be looked down on and even allude to the idea that they are less than human.
This needs to stop now.
While some people might claim that being asked to reform their use of the words gay, fag or queer limits their freedom of speech, this argument carries little weight for three reasons.
One, personal rights can trump freedom of speech, and this is one of those cases. For example, it is illegal to yell “fire” in a crowed building because of the harm it could cause to other American citizens. While making the use of these homosexual references illegal would be very unconstitutional and most likely unsuccessful, American citizens need to realize that their use of these words implying a negative connotation is harmful to other people.
Secondly, the use of these words in a negative context actually limits the freedom of speech and expression in a roundabout way. With so many negative ideas associated with being gay, some homosexuals are afraid to admit how they truly feel, or live the lifestyle they want to live. These limitations on the homosexual lifestyle are, at times, a direct result of words describing the homosexual lifestyle as a bad thing or something to be ashamed of.
A final thing to consider is that it is just rude to use words like gay or fag with negative meaning. It is just another form of passing judgment, and as adults, we should have grown out of petty name calling a long time ago.