I think to an extent yes, but if that were truly the case then I think a lot more people would choose not to be offended by things much more often. I feel like sometimes you just can’t help it, and especially on a topic that someone is uncomfortable with. Many gay people out there are comfortable with their sexuality and can choose not to be offended by it, but someone who isn’t so comfortable with the self might not.

You can then look at that situation in two ways. Either 1. That’s their fault for being sensitive over it when it isn’t even meant to hurt them, or 2. I’ll just avoid saying it because I don’t want to hurt them. I just go with option two because it doesn’t bother me at all and I’d rather be safe than sorry, but this option also does allow people who choose to be offended by things to add in even more unnecessary things that people can’t say (this includes a lot of things that are considered politically incorrect).

https://youtu.be/QdO7hMp6SBY
4:49 kinda hits on the main reason it never bothered me anymore. Most people don't mean it as an attack on those that are actually gay, and the ones that do are fairly plain about it and should be ignored at will.

Also if you're one of the people that thinks "gay" is an actual insult, oh man do i have a wibbles thread for you.

[QUOTE=Budsi;9494495]Vitamin:
"I’ve been through this conversation enough times and I’d rather not do it again, but there is one thing you said that I will address."

Very well.

"You may whole heartedly believe your religion and believe that completely following it is what makes you a good person, but that is not the overall definition of being a good person. And I’m sorry but an unproven book telling me that being gay is wrong and providing 0 reason why besides “it’s a sin” is not a convincing enough reason for me to sacrifice much of my happiness, time, and energy to try to change it and likely fail."

There are several things I must address here for the sake of clarification, and I will not respond to this topic again if you do not wish to. You must seek the Lord, I cannot seek him for you.

I am not a religious person. I follow only the word of Christ, no organizational structure binds meet any of their teachings, I do not follow the false Idols of the Catholic Church, I am not bound by any of the Protestant factions. I have read the book myself and have drawn these conclusions myself, that there is an objective good and an objective evil in this world, and that following the teachings of Jesus Christ will lead you to the objective good.

To say that his teachings are not backed up with evidence is not true, that's simply a falsehood, and is evidence that you have never read the book yourself there are plenty of allegoricals and ancidotes in the book that explain the very things you say the only reason behind is sin. I greatly encourage you to read the Bible for yourself and draw your own conclusions, not doing what most "Christians" do, skimming through the Old Testament, reading the book of John, and then saying they've read everything. I recommend the Authorized King James Version, 1611.

"I’d like to move on from this topic since it’s not what I wanted to discuss in my thread, but if you want to reply or further discuss anything feel free to pm me."

I can get back on topic if you would like, although I did consider that on topic, as it is one way of getting to the heart of the issue. Another way, without bringing religion into it, would be to address your point earlier in which you stated that people are accepting of gayness. I think that's false. I think it's a vocal minority that are accepting of gayness. I'm granting that this is all opinion, but that's what you asked for. I truly believe that most people in this world are sheep who cannot think for themselves, however this does not mean that their subconscious is completely dead. Compare the word f*****t to the word n****r. There are a hell of a lot more people that still use the first word, as compared to the second, and I think there's a reason for this,and it has nothing to do with the time period In which it started getting seen as socially acceptable.

I think most people realize that to attack someone's race is wrong,because there's no way to change that. However to attack someone's sexual preference is something that most, subconsciously, can at least consider because whether or not it is inherent, (which is something I believe we disagree on), it is hidden, it's not a visible thing that people can objectively state, it's not something that someone can prescribe to know, yet there is a norm that is upheld in society. And when things go against the norm, most people like to say that they're fine with it, however subconsciously most people have a bias against things that go against the norm. As much as people would like to tell you we're individual special snowflakes, there's a surprising amount of groupthink that occurs within a society, and we consciously or subconsciously follow the norm.

about as much thought as i give to calling a bloke a girl. look at it this way. the word love. could mean brother love, partner love, parent child love, all essentially the same but different flavors. when you use gay it could mean a few different types. these are localised meanings for these so keep that in mind. you could be a GAY man they type who even if you didn't know you wouldnt be suprised if they were gay, gay MAN type who is a blokey bloke but has a mista at home usually you don't know unless they tell you. fagget the really dramatic over the top one whose personality seems to revolve around being loud and proud.

when i call someone gay because they are kicking up a fuss over nothing or not getting up to go do something. i usally mean they are being a faggot.
if a mate turns up in feminine coloured out fit. then i use it as if he is a gay man.
if you are ever unsure just ask.If they do better to find out earlier rather than later. if not no problem.

I think calling things gay in the manner you described largely came from other parts of the internet, like the reddit phrase "fake and gay".

Whether or not it was coined with homophobic intentions doesn't matter at this point, as was pointed out before me, at least on the internet the term has become much broader. Most people just use it because it has become part of internet culture and I honestly think you're overestimating the actual amount of people saying this with homophobic intentions.

To address the affect vs. effect relation of calling things "gay", I am very much on woeb's side on this: It ultimately comes down to if the person in question wants to be offended. Offense is taken, not given. You can be offended by just about anything if you try hard enough to find a reason, does that mean we should start talking about everything as if it might offend someone?

The anonymity of the internet means you can never really know if a person is secretly homophobic (or gay, for that matter) unless they tell you, either directly or indirectly by calling you something worse like a de***** f***ing
********** satan worshipper or whatever. That's just how it is and I think trying to change that is a waste of time because of what I said about offense earlier.

If someone is truly bothered by another persons use of the word gay, the best course of action is to tell that person in a somewhat private setting (or otherwise incur ridicule, as is tradition) that you would like them to stop.
However don't expect people to cater to your feelings on the internet unless they're your friends.

P.S. Now it makes alot more sense why you fangirl'd over Lexa so much.

“I honestly think you're overestimating the actual amount of people saying this with homophobic intentions.”

I literally said that I think the majority of people who say this don’t have homophobic intentions, but everyone is ignoring that and assuming I get offended over this. I personally don’t care if people say it. I was just thinking about the affect it might have on other people and was curious what people would say if I brought it up. I’m now regretting this thread because clearly most people aren’t reading everything and assuming I’m getting offended over this which I’ve specified a trillion times that it doesn’t bother me. It’s not letting me close the thread though.

Edit: Just talked to someone about this and they understood more once I specified so I’ll add in here what I said to him. I would get this being just a random insult if it didn’t have links to gay stereotypes for men specifically. People a lot of times people call someone gay if they’re afraid/being weak or something, which I always thought went with how gay men are often more feminine. Being a gay guy and seeing that said in a negative way all the time, even if it’s not meant to be homophobic, could still affect them.

Is anyone going to make the obvious joke?




I'd like to apologize for this post in advance

I too would like to apogize in advance for Divine jesus

I am not about to spend over an hour reading all these comments, but when I was young I called things "gay" simply because that's what other people where I grew up did.. learned slang doesn't necessarily mean you have any deeper opinion on a matter that one might draw from it. If I call someone a "dick" it doesn't mean I have a deep hatred for penises or men, it's just the way it is, much the same I've never gave a single fuck about anybody else's sexuality unless they're coming on to me.

That being said I no longer use the word gay for anything unrelated to sexuality as I really never cared much for it and I'm too old to argue with keyboard warriors. That doesn't mean if I see someone making a scene about the use of the word on unfounded context I won't call them gay or a f****t just cuz those kind of fools deserve to get trolled, but as a whole it's not worth it to me.

As a gay I use the word "gay" to describe things more than I should. Ultimately I think it makes the atmosphere feel less friendly to the gay community on the outside
overall it just makes us look bad to people and gives people an in to call gamers homophobic it wouldn't be a bad thing to use the word less