Maybe 'that's so gay' is actually ok for young people to say

Contents:

• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
• PHRASE 'THAT'S GAY' ACCEPTABLE TO NEARLY HALF OF YOUNG PEOPLE
• ‘I AM GAY – BUT I WASN’T BORN THIS WAY’
• 'THAT '90S SHOW' VIEWERS TORN OVER GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX SPOFF
• WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A GAY LTLE PERSON

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

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. 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. Warng: people may fd some words and phras ed this report offensiveAlmost half of young people (49%) thk the term "that's gay" is acceptable to e.

Sexualy is the third part of a Newsbeat vtigatn to what words or phras people fd last 15 years have seen some big chang to the laws on sexualy, om equal age of nsent to same sex over that time the words we e to talk about the subject have source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Unn J sger Jaymi Hensley has been a relatnship for six years and says young people have the right to feel open about their sexualyThe last 15 years have seen some big chang to the laws on sexualy, om equal age of nsent to same sex over that time the words we e to talk about the subject have asked people what they thought about 12 words monly ed around found some words relatg to sexualy more offensive than words relatg to last few years have seen many s of people beg offend by what they see as homophobic actns by actor Rsell Tovey, known for his role Banished, apologised after beg wily cricised for suggtg drama school stunts "prance around" beg "effemate" said he had been "brand the worst gay ever". Some young people were also nfed about which words people would fd offensive when talkg about (15%) didn't know if "queen" was an appropriate term while almost 10% believed g the word homosexual was not acceptable any survey suggts people are aware that phras n e offence but are sometim unsure about if they n ever be ed, even a so-lled "iendly" example, 16% didn't know if "fairy" was an acceptable word to e a song.

PHRASE 'THAT'S GAY' ACCEPTABLE TO NEARLY HALF OF YOUNG PEOPLE

Yet the ial fdgs om my terviews wh 40 gay youth om four universi suggts a more plex picture, wh no clear agreement on what the phrase means or s effects. For them, gay had two distct meangs which they were able to distguish between – when refers to sexual inty and when refers, separately, to somethg beg “bbish”. I argued that straight men’s e of phras like “that’s so gay” uld only be unrstood by three key factors: first, the tent wh which was said; send, the social ntext (homophobic or otherwise); and third, the effect had.

But when is said settgs where sexual mori are out, proud and socially clud, and heterosexual men are iends wh their openly gay peers, tak on different meangs.

‘I AM GAY – BUT I WASN’T BORN THIS WAY’

If young gay people are sayg that they do not experience the phrase “that’s so gay” as homophobic – and if they are even g the phrase themselv – then perhaps we should accept their arguments and ncentrate on other battl. Ally: A person who supports and rpects sexual diversy, acts acrdgly to challenge homophobic and heterosexist remarks and behavrs, and is willg to explore and unrstand the forms of bias wh themselv. An umbrella term that refers to members of a subculture the gay and bisexual male muni and is often fed as more of an attu or sense of fort wh natural masculy and bodi.

'THAT '90S SHOW' VIEWERS TORN OVER GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX SPOFF

Bicur: An dividual who typilly intifi as gay or straight while showg some cursy for a relatnship or sexual activy wh a person of the genr they do not favor.

Gay: At tim, “gay” is ed to refer to all people, regardls of sex, who have their primary sexual and or romantic attractns to people of the same sex. The term n also exclively refer to men who are emotnally, romantilly, sexually, affectnately, or relatnally attracted to other men, or who intify as members of the gay muny. Heteronormativy: The assumptn, dividuals or stutns, that everyone is heterosexual, or that heterosexualy is superr to homosexualy and bisexualy.

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A GAY LTLE PERSON

Bee most LGBTQ people are raised the same society as heterosexuals, they learn the same beliefs and stereotyp prevalent the domant society, leadg to a phenomenon known as ternalized homophobia, whereas LGBTQ-intified dividuals feel shame, guilt or hatred towards the part of themselv intified as LGBTQ. Internalized Homophobia: The fear and self-hate of one’s own homosexualy or bisexualy dividuals who have learned negative ias about homosexualy throughout childhood. Leather culture is most visible gay muni and most often associated wh gay men (“leathermen”), but is also reflected var ways the gay, lbian, bisexual, and heterosexual worlds.

Queer: Term scribg people who have a non-normative genr inty, sexual orientatn or sexual anatomy—clus lbians, gay men, bisexual people, and transgenr people and alli. Same-Genr Lovg (SGL): A term ed by some Ain-Amerin dividuals to scribe their sexual orientatn, as a rult of the perceptn that “gay” and “lbian” are primarily whe terms. You so obvly nnot be gay, was her implitn, bee this is good was 2006, a full five years before Lady Gaga would set the Born This Way argument atop s unassailable cultural perch, but even then the popular unrstandg of orientatn was that was somethg you were born wh, somethg you uldn’t change.