‘That’s So Gay’: Language That Hurts, and How to Stop It | ADL

Contents:

• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
• WATCH HILARY DUFF RE-CREATE HER INIC ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ ANTI-BULLYG PSA: ‘A CULTURE-DEFG MOMENT’
• WHAT DO YOU SAY TO “THAT’S SO GAY” AND OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ COMMENTS?
• WHAT DO YOU SAY TO ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ & OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ+ COMMENTS?
• WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?
• WHY “THAT’S SO GAY!” IS SO OFFENSIVE
• ‘THAT’S SO GAY’: LANGUAGE THAT HURTS, AND HOW TO STOP IT
• ‘THAT’S SO GAY’: HERE ARE SEVEN HOMOPHOBIC MICRO-AGGRSNS WE NEED TO RETIRE
• ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ PROMPTS A LAWSU
• THE TE MEANG BEHD “THAT’S SO GAY”
• 'THAT'S SO GAY' PHRASE HAS LASTG IMPACT FOR LGBT YOUTH, STUDY FDS
• THAT'S SO GAY
• THE COMPLEXY OF ‘THAT'S SO GAY'
• STOP SAYG “THAT’S SO GAY!”: 6 TYP OF MICROAGGRSNS THAT HARM LGBTQ PEOPLE
• IS IT OK TO SAY "THAT'S SO GAY"?
• A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

Spend any time around teens, and you’re likely to hear the mon exprsn, “That’s so gay" — even among gay kids. If you ask them about , as some rearchers have, they often will sist that is not tend as homophobic language, jt a harmls phrase to exprs tratn or somethg siar. When most people hear the term LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual), for stance, they equate to havg adult sex.

WATCH HILARY DUFF RE-CREATE HER INIC ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ ANTI-BULLYG PSA: ‘A CULTURE-DEFG MOMENT’

Another client’s mother once ught him lookg at gay porn, and said, horrified, “You’re not gay, are you? ” Later when the parents learned their children were gay, they apologized to them for sayg the thgs, but the damage was already done.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO “THAT’S SO GAY” AND OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ COMMENTS?

Hearg kids sayg, “that’s so gay” every day mak the people and everythg else around them qutnable: Are thgs safe or dangero? What, then, n be done about makg kids (and the rt of ) more aware of the harm g such phras as “That’s so gay?

But parents who are enough aware of language’s substrata n help by helpg their kids’ schools unrstand the value of practicg the same kd of zero tolerance for homophobic language that they do for racist or anti-Semic or bullyg language. The bt thg I have seen is the mpaign “ThkB4YouSpeak” by GLSEN (Gay, Lbian School Edutor Network). Anti-LGBT remarks such as “that’s so gay” are often untentnal and a mon part of teens’ vernacular.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ & OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ+ COMMENTS?

Watch Hilary Duff Re-Create Her Inic ‘That’s So Gay’ Anti-Bullyg PSA: ‘A Culture-Defg MOMENT’.

On Thursday, Hilary Duff took to social media to re-create her inic anti-bullyg PSA that tght an entire generatn of lennials to stop sayg: “That’s so gay. The viral post end wh Duff’s fal voice-over, remdg viewers, “When you say, ‘That’s so gay, ’ do you realize what you say?

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?

This year for Bullyg Preventn Month, download our most sought-after handout, “What Do You Say to ‘That’s So Gay’”?, which teach tors both how and why is important to rpond to anti-LGBTQ ments. “You may not have meant to be hurtful, but when you e the word ‘gay’ to mean somethg is bad or stupid, is hurtful.

Knowg what to say when someone “gay” as a putdown is an sential skill -- not jt for tors, but for everyone as they cultivate rpectful spac hom, workplac and muni across the untry. It don’t matter if ’s a first grar who might not know what the word “gay” means, a sixth grar tryg to sound ol, or a tenth grar “teasg” a iend. “Even if you didn’t mean to offend people who are gay, is offensive to ll this assignment gay (or queer); if you don’t like somethg, then say you don’t like !

WHY “THAT’S SO GAY!” IS SO OFFENSIVE

If you have been hearg the phrase “That’s gay” or “no homo, ” take time durg class to make sure that your stunts know what “gay” means and know why is hurtful to e as a ment or put-down.

Be clear that g the phrase “That’s gay” is hurtful to other stunts who may have fay members or iends who are LGBTQ. For the youngt stunts, keep simple – for example, “the word gay scrib a man and a man or a woman and a woman who love each other. *LGBTQ+: Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer, Pl (muny members who e different language to scribe inty).

Also review Exposg Hidn Homophobia for exampl on how to al wh hidn homophobia among olr stunts. How would you feel if someone said “that’s so gay” about somethg you were dog or about somethg you liked?

‘THAT’S SO GAY’: LANGUAGE THAT HURTS, AND HOW TO STOP IT

(Note: Clarify any fns, and talk about why words like “that’s so gay, ” “gay, ” “fag, ” “sissy” or anythg else that me up are appropriate. Your handbook should clu specific l about g appropriate language, such as the e of the phrase “that’s so gay. ” You n also be creative wh , rporatg stori, illtratns or even ics to munite why “that’s so gay” is appropriate and how , as well as other typ of name-llg, n hurt others.

Safe Schools Coaln offers rourc for tors and parents on how bt to support LGBTQ youth and al wh issu of homophobia school muni.

The phrase "that’s so gay" has persisted as a way for stunts to scribe thgs they do not like, fd annoyg or generally want to put down, while is promisg that fewer stunts are hearg homophobic slurs than prev years. The phrase is ed so monly that many stunts no longer regnize as homophobic bee is “what everyone says.

‘THAT’S SO GAY’: HERE ARE SEVEN HOMOPHOBIC MICRO-AGGRSNS WE NEED TO RETIRE

” When tors and other adults tervene, mon stunt rpons clu “I was jt jokg, ” “I don’t mean actual ‘gay people’ when I say ‘that’s so gay’” and “My iend is gay, and she don’t md.

‘THAT’S SO GAY’ PROMPTS A LAWSU

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Gay, Lbian & Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) No Name-Callg Week. Interveng homophobic remarks do not require a discsn about sexualy or the history of anti-LGBT slurs. It don’t matter if the stunt didn’t tend to be homophobic, bee a negative ment about any group has the potential to hurt dividuals and whole muni.

THE TE MEANG BEHD “THAT’S SO GAY”

You would most likely envisn overtly homophobic language or even vlence beg rried out agast someone due to their sexual orientatn or inty. While the behavurs are absolutely ditive of homophobia, we need to stop actg like they’re the only hallmarks of this opprsive system. Sometim sticks out like a sore thumb but sometim ’s vert, implied and sometim people who are beg homophobic may not even realise themselv.

'THAT'S SO GAY' PHRASE HAS LASTG IMPACT FOR LGBT YOUTH, STUDY FDS

In the ntext of homophobia, the sentiments and behavurs n fetishise, stereotype and value gay people.

THAT'S SO GAY

Here are jt some of the many homophobic micro-aggrsns we, as a society, should fally put to bed:.

Among the butterfly-shaped crop tops and low-rise jeans, another symbol of the noughti endur, the exprsn: ‘that’s so gay’. This is ually uttered when you tell someone you’re gay and they suate that bee you’re attractive, women (or the se of lbians, men) will sadly miss out. 2000s roms are filled wh stereotypilly mp, sassy gay panns have led to a number of girls and women wantg one of their own.

I’ve told straight guys on nights out before that I’m gay and their ey have glazed over wh fear; ’s as if they’re a zebra the Serengeti and I’m a raveno ln. This ia belongs to the le of rhetoric that gay men are herently predatory and that we manially scuttle towards the first guy we see.

THE COMPLEXY OF ‘THAT'S SO GAY'

Hontly, I’ve never unrstood why some people act like before you n say you’re gay, you have to go on some Lara-Croft-style trek through the same sex. "But school officials say they took a strict stand agast the putdown after two boys were paid to beat up a gay stunt the year before.

STOP SAYG “THAT’S SO GAY!”: 6 TYP OF MICROAGGRSNS THAT HARM LGBTQ PEOPLE

"The district has a statutory duty to protect gay stunts om harassment, " the district's lawyers argued a legal brief. But the landspe has bee nfg recent years as mory groups have tried to reclaim terms like "queer, " "ghetto" and the recent years, gay rights advot and tors have tried teachg stunts that is hurtful to e the word "gay" as an all-purpose term for somethg disagreeable.

IS IT OK TO SAY "THAT'S SO GAY"?

At Berkeley High School, a gay stunt club passed out buttons wh the words "That's so gay" crossed out to get their classmat to stop g Ayers, a retired teacher who helped pile and publish the "Berkeley High School Slang Dictnary, " a pendium of trendy teen talk cir 2001, said tg stunts about offensive language is preferable to policg their speech.

They are seekg unspecified damag and want the disciplary notatn expunged om Rebekah's school Byard, puty executive director of the New York-based Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network, said nearly ne out of 10 gay stunts her anizatn surveyed 2005 reported hearg "That's so gay" or "You're so gay" equently.

"The job of a school is to al proactively and nsistently wh all forms of bullyg, name-llg and harassment, " she Lorence, an attorney wh the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal anizatn, agreed "That's so gay" rri a negative meang and said he would not want his children to say .

A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

So, like, if ’s wh my iends and someone says “that’s so gay”; I know ’s a very different meang than a kid who jt tripped and another one said “that’s so gay”, you know what I mean? Vidisha Sharma: I agree wh what Sofia said about nnotatn; if ’s someone gay, like myself, and I make jok like “oh my god that’s so gay” or “hahaha I’m so gay”. : Also, ’s jt bee people thk ’s quirky to say , like, “cê é tão gay, s viado” and that kd of stuff; ’s bee ’s popular and a lot of people are sayg .

From the terviews, is evint that the people on the other end of “that’s so gay” are hurt and repulsed by the mon e of the phrase. Some young adults might feel that is okay to e this phrase as a joke or an sult bee don’t affect them, and and feel that“long gone are the tim when gay people were opprsed”, but they are wrong. In the news, ’s mon nowadays to see a child murred ld blood bee they told their parents they were gay, an example beg Anthony Avalos.