Falsely claimg someone is gay is no longer famatn per se, N.Y. urt l

Contents:

• IS LLG A HOMOSEXUAL PERSON “GAY” OFFENSIVE?
• 34 OF THE BT RPONS WHEN SOMEONE ASSUM AND CALLS YOU GAY
• THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH
• ON BEG CALLED GAY
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY
• STRAIGHT MEN ARE SHARG TIM THEY’VE BEEN CALLED “GAY” FOR DOG BASIC THGS, AND IT’S HONTLY RIDICULO
• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• FALSELY CLAIMG SOMEONE IS GAY IS NO LONGER FAMATN PER SE, N.Y. URT L
• IF YOU LL SOMEONE GAY, HE BETTER BE A GUY WHO LIK GUYS.
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER MUNY

IS LLG A HOMOSEXUAL PERSON “GAY” OFFENSIVE?

It's typilly preferred by those to whom appli over the term "homosexual", the technil nature of which mak this state of beg sound like a munible disease or mental illns (which, as recently as the DSM-II, seventh edn, was, tegorized as a pathologil phobia of the oppose sex). Many advocy groups, such as GLAAD (Gay/Lbian Associatn Agast Defamatn) and terms they promote for e the media (such as LGBT) rporate this term, though this isn't to say the terms will always be acceptable for this reason; the group name often persists long after the words behd them have fallen om favor, to avoid the nfn of a rebrandg of the group.

34 OF THE BT RPONS WHEN SOMEONE ASSUM AND CALLS YOU GAY

"Queer", an old slang term for gay men, and "fag"/"faggot", origally AE slang for a wimp or unmanly person, but which me to be associated wh the stereotypil "swishy" gay man, have bee si terms; still appropriate when ed by a ntral party or a "straight" person, but acceptable ntext between gay men. However, there are still many rotten eggs who throw around slurs and ll people gay mdlsly, so helps to know what to say when someone lls you gay. It says that even if you were gay, you wouldn’t be lookg the person’s way bee you have higher standards than someone who looks/drs as he/she do, and is actively homophobic.

THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

22“I’m gog to assume that you didn’t mean that is wrong to be gay, but for future reference, keep those thoughts to yourself.

ON BEG CALLED GAY

It also says you don’t re enough about the person’s perceptn of gay people to go out of your way to clarify whether you’re straight or not.

It says that people should te themselv on proper etiquette regardg the gay muny, and how certa stereotyp n be damagg or hurtful. When certa people disver you’re gay, that’s all they will see you as, and they will show their lack of rpect and acceptance by llg you “gay” stead of your actual name. Wh that beg said, whenever you need , you n refer to the sets of exampl of what to say when someone lls you gay to stick up for yourself or ignore the nonsense.

There was a recent high profile story the news about an 11-year-old boy who mted suici, apparently bee he uld no longer tolerate beg lled “gay. Many anti-bully activists sist that anti-bully laws should specifilly mentn sults agast gays and those of non-heterosexual orientns.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

If be a crime to sult people, then, is hoped, no one will be attacked wh the “gay” sult, and the associated vlence will disappear. If we go to school together, are the same class, and I always treat you this way, you may even bee my iend even though you hate gays.

The New York Tim reports that cisns are startg to be hand down at the trial urt level lg that llg a person ‘gay’ is not, and of self, enough of a slur to create a e of actn for slanr:. (AP) — One by one, urts around the untry are cidg ’s no longer slanr to falsely ll someone gay — a measure of how attus are changg the era of same-sex marriage and gays uniform.

While “gay” is still wily wield as an sult, some judg have nclud that is not damagg to anyone’s reputatn, jt as llg a whe man black is no longer grounds for legal actn as was a generatn ago. The latt lg me om a midlevel New York state appeals urt Thursday and was hailed by gay-rights activists as a small but meangful victory. The se volved a woman who was sued for allegedly spreadg a mor that an upstate New York man was gay the hope of breakg up his relatnship wh another woman.

STRAIGHT MEN ARE SHARG TIM THEY’VE BEEN CALLED “GAY” FOR DOG BASIC THGS, AND IT’S HONTLY RIDICULO

In a 4-0 cisn, the New York Appellate Divisn’s Third Department threw out the lawsu before went to trial, notg changg attus about homosexualy.

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

Reversg s of legal precents, the urt said the famatn claim was “based on a false premise that is shameful and disgraceful to be scribed as lbian, gay or bisexual. Legal experts and gay rights activists say judg other parts of the untry have ma siar lgs over the past several years, but trackg them is difficult bee there are relatively few slanr or famatn lawsus brought and laws vary om state to state. In 1994, for example, North Carola’s Court of Appeals said a person n sue over beg lled a homosexual only if he or she n prove actual damag.

FALSELY CLAIMG SOMEONE IS GAY IS NO LONGER FAMATN PER SE, N.Y. URT L

He said judg would probably nsir public opn wh their jurisdictn and other factors, such as whether the state has legalized gay marriage, somethg New York did last year.

For example, such an allegatn agast a relig person or relig figure or polician opposed to homosexualy might prent a different qutn. ” This suggts, as both the article and Turley note, that whether or not ‘gay’ (or any other rogatory word monly ed to refer to gays or lbians) is slanro pends largely upon the type muny which the act tak plac, which uld mean the state the parti live or even jt the lol, profsnal, or social muny to whom the allegedly slanro statement was broadst.

IF YOU LL SOMEONE GAY, HE BETTER BE A GUY WHO LIK GUYS.

Callg someone ‘gay’ New York Cy is, arguably, different om llg them ‘gay’ a small town South Carola, whether is tthful or not. For example, Tom Cise uld argue that his earng potential as an actor would be harmed by false allegatns of homosexualy, even though there is basilly no stigma agast beg gay the Hollywood muny that he is a member of.

’ Public acceptance of homosexualy, and homosexual relatnships, is beg near universal, a dramatic change om where thgs were even twenty-five years ago.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER MUNY

I never heard back om Richard, and so I put the gay issue asi believg wasn’t necsary to take on directly bee is only a small mory who uld relate to this. Moreover, the many suggtns that I do provi my posts to al wh sults a general way uld easily be applied by someone who is lled gay a disrpectful manner.

I don’t happen to be gay, but my dghter is, and she gets very upset when other kids tnt her wh slurs she terprets as ‘homophobic. Faygala is a Yiddish word that lerally means “ltle bird, ” but the Brooklyn neighborhood that I grew up typilly referred to a gay man. I’m a ltle embarrassed to say that even after I learned that the words faggot and fag were put downs to gay people, I ntued to e them as general sults for a good few more years until one particular cint.