It’s "Okay" to Be Gay, and You Need to Know Why

Contents:

• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
• MDG THERAPYMENTAL HEALTH AND POP CULTURE MEETMA MENUSKIP TO PRIMARY NTENTSKIP TO SENDARY NTENTHOMECONTACTABOUT (SORT OF)NOVEL “MDG THERAPY”SCREENPLAYDISCLAIMER/PRIVACY/COMMENTS POLICY SEARCH POST NAVIGATN ← PREV NEXT →“THAT’S SO GAY”: IS THE POPULAR PHRASE SOMETIM OKAY?
• WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?
• IS IT OK TO SAY "THAT'S SO GAY"?
• IT'S SO GAY, AND 'S OKAY
• IS IT OKAY TO SAY “THAT’S SO GAY”?
• IT’S “OKAY” TO BE GAY, AND YOU NEED TO KNOW WHY
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY
• COMMENTARY: WHY “THAT’S SO GAY” IS OKAY…OR NOT
• THAT'S SO GAY
• IT'S SO GAY AND IT'S OKAY - SOFTVER
• IT'S OK TO BE GAY LYRICS

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

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.

How are we to unrstand a phrase that olr people fd homophobic, but many younger people do not fd offensive and even e themselv? Given that labellg the stunts homophobic would be ridiculo, was val to nsir how they were g this language and the reasons why. 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”.

MDG THERAPYMENTAL HEALTH AND POP CULTURE MEETMA MENUSKIP TO PRIMARY NTENTSKIP TO SENDARY NTENTHOMECONTACTABOUT (SORT OF)NOVEL “MDG THERAPY”SCREENPLAYDISCLAIMER/PRIVACY/COMMENTS POLICY SEARCH POST NAVIGATN ← PREV NEXT →“THAT’S SO GAY”: IS THE POPULAR PHRASE SOMETIM OKAY?

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. 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.

Only a mory of participants – ls than a third – thought that the phrase was homophobic, and even fewer said that they never ed .

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?

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.

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. 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.

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

” Later when the parents learned their children were gay, they apologized to them for sayg the thgs, but the damage was already done.

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.

IT'S SO GAY, AND 'S OKAY

: Microaggrsns and the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Communy shows that “(t)he accumulated experienc are associated wh feelgs of victimizatn, suicidal thkg, and higher rat of substance abe, prsn, and other health problems among members of the LGBT muny. ”Sam Killermann ma the followg flowchart to dite when ’s okay to say “that’s so gay”:The pot beg, of urse, that ’s ually not okay unls you’re appropriately scribg a person wh a gay or lbian LGBT activist Ash Beckham giv a rapid-fire and tertg speech about how the words “so gay” n hurt:Although both girls and guys e the words, I n’t fd any rearch specific to the former. Brish soclogist Mark McCormack reports his 2012 The Declg Signifince of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys Are Refg Masculy and Heterosexualy that ’s now monplace for male teenagers to be fortable wh their own or others’ gayns and to not equate sayg and hearg “that’s so gay” as his blog post “The Complexy of ‘That’s So Gay‘”:To be clear, I am not advotg for the e of the phrase ‘that’s so gay.

Ined, some of the LGBT stunts I spoke to felt unfortable wh the phrase at the same time as they argued did not nnote homophobia. In The Declg Signifince of Homophobia, I velop a new mol for unrstandg this changg e of language, which highlights how the tent, effect, and environment wh which words are ed are vally important termg whether homophobia is prent or not.

IS IT OKAY TO SAY “THAT’S SO GAY”?

When someone says ‘that’s so gay, ’ we should also nsir discsg wh them why some people might fd offensive, the history of gay opprsn and the value of empathy.

” On the one hand, we have such factors as the evangelil Christian movement and lgerg stigma about AIDS beg a gay disease; on the other, we see burgeong anti-homophobia strategi and and aga, on all kds of ntemporary issu, ’s all about our red/blue, black/whe, eher/or the U. (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. ” 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.

IT’S “OKAY” TO BE GAY, AND YOU NEED TO KNOW WHY

Safe Schools Coaln offers rourc for tors and parents on how bt to support LGBTQ youth and al wh issu of homophobia school muni. When they don't like somethg or thk somethg is weird, or they want to make fun of someone, they might say, "That's gay" or "You're so gay. Chattg wh iends yterday eveng, one fellow parent related that her 15-year old son (let’s ll him Jack, which is not his real name) had been reprimand by his teacher for sayg, “you’re so gay” to a classmate.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

To him, ’s jt a phrase that lots of his iends e to kid each other, and knowg Jack, I believe him when he says he and his iends don’t re whether someone is gay or not.

COMMENTARY: WHY “THAT’S SO GAY” IS OKAY…OR NOT

Jack’s mother agreed wh the teacher’s view that he should not e the term “gay” that way publicly as uld be upsettg to and misterpreted by others.

However, if he was labelg his iend’s behavr as embarrassg or unol, then there are better choic of words… or his md, do “gay” mean “embarrassg or unol”?

THAT'S SO GAY

I did thk, however, “You don’t know what the ‘f-bomb’ means, and you’re unfaiar wh the ‘s-word, ’ but you know what the words gay and homosexual mean? Most people the LGBTQ+ muny know om experience that acceptg your sexualy will lead to your beg a happier, more open this gui, the term gay has been ed to clu all forms of non-heterosexual attractn, whether that be people who are lbian, gay, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or otherwise not straight. Beg gay do not necsarily make you any ls mascule or feme, and there is no need or prsure to nform to stereotyp that don't feel right to you - bee you are who you are.

The laws the Bible were maly for health purpos - shunng homosexualy is right next to not gettg tattoos, not eatg pork, and not wearg mixed lens, but you n bet your bottom dollar all your neighbors do those thgs. It is important to note that the Amerin Psychologil Associatn has clared that groups claimg to cure homosexualy are dangero and unhealthy.

IT'S SO GAY AND IT'S OKAY - SOFTVER

If you are still beg supported by parents whom you are que sure would disown you for beg gay, may be pnt to wa to tell them until you are pennt. You may regret the acceptance of your orientatn the future, pecially if you're a part of the world where the gay muny is beg prosecuted by a specific culture.

Article SummaryXIf you stggle wh acceptg your attractn to the same sex, know that beg gay is pletely normal and you n be proud of who you are by fdg support and embracg your dividualy.

I e equently, much to my straight iends’ nfn (and some of my gay iends’ dismay) several ocsns, people have lled me out on the age of “that’s so gay, ” cludg my own fay members.

IT'S OK TO BE GAY LYRICS

My equent arguments have often been, “I mean gay as lame, not gay as gay, ” or, “Whatever, that’s not what I meant and you know , ” or even, “Whatever, language evolv. “Gay” riv om the 14th Century English-French word “gai” (I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce that, I took Spanish) meang “cheery.

And sce beg “gay” was nsired beg a b of a heathen, ’s only natural that if you had proper blogil sex and wanted a wife, two kids, and all that nonsense, you’d be nsired “straight. By the end of the 1960s, “gay” had been well tablished as meang “homosexual” om s “reee” wasn’t until the 1970s that “gay” had veloped a pejorative meang. So, at least when people first started sayg, “that’s gay, ” the associatn that beg gay is negative was still is, until the 21st century, when gay culture began to enter the mastream, people started to object to the e of “gay” the pejorative sense as offensive and homophobic.

Here’s a good example: Brish rad host Chris Moyl once said on air, “I do not want that one, ’s gay, ” reference to a rgtone, g que the uproar.