"
Don't believe me? Listen how harmlessly blacks can use the "N" word with each other. Sure, it's a long way from it being harmless for White people to say it. But it's many steps along that path. Steps that I admire. Steps I think we should emulate.



"

"MiDerecho!, you make some very good points that I'm taking as nutritious food for thought.

I tend to put more stock in intent than in words themselves, and I remain of the opinion that desensitation to certain words can be better than simply not hearing them anymore.

But I agree words can have the power to hurt, and that I should reexamine my cavalier attidude towards some of these words.


Certainly my heart goes out to every gay person or person of any opporession whose environment or situation exposed them to intolerance, hatred and danger in this day and age in America. I'm blessed to have rarely experience that ... and I want everyone to experience the same blessing."

"I'll also remind someone who's using the word gay while their beating up on a gay person, that their vocabulary usage is limited and they should think about expanding it.

Ah! America."

"in your example, the evil is the beating which is poured into the vassal of the word"

"no..in my example in my example the beating and the words work together. Rarely is there a bashing of any sort without an epithet or two thrown in. Words are just words, but you cannot deny the influence words have over people. A tyrant can use words in their quest for power. A poet can use words to seduce.

Moreover, have you never heard of verbal abuse? It is a reality to many. Perhaps you have the fortitude to ignore abusive words or intent, not everyone does. Making people aware that the words they use can hurt others is not becoming subservient to the word, it's letting someone know that their not allowed to use words to degrade anyone else. "

"I'm always a little weary when I hear people talking about how their generation is the most progressive ever. I don't buy it. Not trying to be offensive here. But let me remind you that not all of your generation live in "progressive" areas. Many gays of your generation live in areas in which being gay is still considered inferior and are more likely to experience violence by others from others in their generation for being gay. Even the term gay has the same meaning as "faggot" to them. There's no difference to them.

I'm not sure how old you are or where you live, therefore can't say what it's like for you. All I'm saying is that you can't conclude that because gays are possibly more accepted where you live, that it's the same everywhere else. I know it's not. I work with kids of your generation from "urban" areas. Minority kids, in many instances, cannot be as open as they would like to. I know their experience is very different from others.

Walk down any urban area that is poor, minority, riddled with crime, gangs, and drugs and tell me whether or not you feel comfortable being openly gay. It takes a tremendous amount of courage for those kids, or your generation, to do that, literally risking their lives. It 's not as simple as you think.

That's why I feel WORDS have the power to hurt as well as to change and expose bigotry and hate. True, It's your choice to be dismissive of such behavior, but will you take responsibility when words, or freedom of speech is used to promulgate malicious intent, or the repression of your freedoms?

We are all responsible for the behavior of others in one way or the other. Going along with such language is passively accepting your own oppression and that of people like you. "

"So, yeah, I might refrain from the jocular use of "homo" and "faggot," but I'm not gonna stop saying "That's so gay." "

" Visibility has become one of our bigger problems. We are visibly invisible. What do I mean? We becaqme so comfortable and assimilated in the last 10 years that we just assumed things would eventually go our way. "