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

Contents:

• HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GAY
• THE TE MEANG BEHD “THAT’S SO GAY”
• HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM GAY? SIGNS YOU ARE GAY
• THAT'S SO GAY
• AM I GAY?
• I'M GAY
• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GAY

Sexual orientatn refers to the endurg physil, romantic and/or emotnal attractn to members of the same and/or other genrs, cludg lbian, gay, bisexual and straight orientatns. As GLAAD not, "Transgenr people may be straight, lbian, gay, bisexual or queer.

A person who transns om female to male and is attracted solely to men would typilly intify as a gay man. The phrase “that’s so gay” has tradnally been unrstood as homophobic.

Stonewall argu that the phrase has a harmful effect on young lbian, gay and bisexual people’s tn and well-beg.

THE TE MEANG BEHD “THAT’S SO GAY”

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. Consir Joe, a 19-year-old gay stunt at an ele universy. He said: “I thk breaks down barriers between the straight and gay muny… I e a lot.

” Siarly, Neil, gay and aged 18, said: “I don’t fd rogatory any way, probably bee I say as well.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM GAY? SIGNS YOU ARE GAY

How are we to unrstand a phrase that olr people fd homophobic, but many younger people do not fd offensive and even e themselv? My tert the phrase “that’s so gay” veloped when I rearched straight male stunts at sixth form lleg.

THAT'S SO GAY

The young men had openly gay iends, supported gay rights and nmned homophobia.

AM I GAY?

Yet several of them would also say “that’s so gay” when trated. Given that labellg the stunts homophobic would be ridiculo, was val to nsir how they were g this language and the reasons why.

All of the men my rearch sisted that they did not tend to be homophobic when they ed the phrase. 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”. Language has evolved and “gay” means somethg different to younger generatns particular ntexts.

I'M GAY

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.

“That’s so gay” n be homophobic if is said wh negative tent or wh a homophobic environment. 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.

In such a ntext is not homophobic. This argument was supported by the narrativ of many of the 40 young gay people a study I am unrtakg wh lleagu at Durham Universy.

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

In the bat about “that’s so gay”, is important to regnise that gay youths also e the phrase. Only a mory of participants – ls than a third – thought that the phrase was homophobic, and even fewer said that they never ed . Most of the young gay people my study felt “that’s so gay” would only be homophobic if was directed at a gay person, and wh negative tent.

So there is no easy answer to whether “that’s so gay” is homophobic. Homophobic hate crim are classified as such if the victim believ to be so. 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.

It is val that we bat homophobia schools, and promote equaly of sexualy. But focg on the phrase “that’s so gay” is not the way to achieve that goal. Pri, formerly known as Gay Pri, is a regnn of LGBTQ inty, affirmatn of equal rights, and celebratn of visibily, digny, and diversy the LGBTQ muny.