The Solutn to "Gay" Insults: Freedom of Speech | Psychology Today

Contents:

• THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH
• "MY IENDS LL ME GAY EVEN THOUGH I'M BI!"
• 34 OF THE BT RPONS WHEN SOMEONE ASSUM AND CALLS YOU GAY

THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

my iends keep llg me gay as a joke and 's gettg annoyg. 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. The most mon sult among kids today is “gay.

"MY IENDS LL ME GAY EVEN THOUGH I'M BI!"

" Kids get mad when they are lled gay and they sometim get to fights. I have great passn for gays.

What is one to do when lled gay?

Many anti-bully activists sist that anti-bully laws should specifilly mentn sults agast gays and those of non-heterosexual orientns. 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. One of the problems wh makg illegal to ll someone “gay” is that vlat the First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech.

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

The tth is that society has e a long way recent s toward rcg hatred and discrimatn agast gays.

However, will be a while–if ever–before anti-gay sentiment disappears pletely.

So what is one to do when lled gay? Usg laws to punish people for g “gay” as an sult is not likely to solve the problem, eher. If people get punished for sultg gays, do you thk they are gog to thk, “Now I rpect gays so much bee I was punished”?