<p>this is the stupidest thread i have ever seen in my life. a lot of you guys are closed minded, prejudiced jerks. many of you are perpetuating the social representations that are not only demeaning to the GLBT community, but are also creating an "us" and "them" view between gays and straights. and also, don't adress gay people as "homosexuals," it is rude.</p>
<p>how could refering to gay ppl as homosexuals be rude?? thats what they are its not slang or anything</p>
<p>How is that rude? People have also been saying "heterosexual". Is that rude? Explain.</p>
<p>Though gay people are homosexuals, the term "homosexual" has a very negative connotation when used to refer to a gay person. It is a very technical, and almost scientific term that dehumanizes the person it is describing. The person is no longer just a person that happens to be attracted to same sex, but someone that is condemned by their sexuality. And no, you don't usually call straight people heterosexuals. Do you go up to people and say, "hi i'm a heterosexual, what are you ?"</p>
<p>ok does anyone say "hi im homosexual what are you??"</p>
<p>what does that have to do with what im saying? my point is, is that people don't usually use the term heterosexual in regular speech</p>
<p>Ummm most gay people don't come up to me and say "Hi I'm gay, what are you?" Does it make it wrong to call them gay too? I know giving people classifications only helps to perpuate discriminations, but EVERYTHING has a name, and generally we come up with a more "scientific" name for it anyway. So what. And actually I use both "straight" and "heterosexual" to describe myself or other people who like the opposite sex. You'd think "gay" would be more of a negative term, just listen to how often it is used by adolescents in a derragotory fashion. Making this an issue perpuates discrimination more than the actual itself (which honestly doesn't in the least).</p>
<p>And terrybhs just saw you posted. Mine is in complement to yours.</p>
<p>so essentially what you are telling me is that, as a gay male, i dont have a right to be offended when someone calls me a homosexual, especially when you obviously do not know what it is like to be in my position. im not asking you to treat me with more respect because im gay, but im asking you to be tolerant of me, and the types of diction that i feel are offensive. a lot of people could say that the n word is outdated and has lost its negative connotation. but just because someone feels that way, does it mean that it is okay to call someone by that term? no it isnt. if you are not black then you will never feel the full impact of the connotations of that word. so just dont use words that people find offensive. if you don't understand why they feel that way, then its okay. but still dont say it.</p>
<p>Upon further research I would have to say that you are sort of correct. The main issue I have found with the term is that it was a word"... used by Victorian scientists who regarded same-sex attraction and sexual behaviour as symptoms of mental disorders or moral deficiency." (<a href="http://www.avert.org/hsexu5.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.avert.org/hsexu5.htm</a>)</p>
<p>Of course, the term "gay" (according to the same site) also has negative origins. But like the someone comments on the site (Mark I believe), it's not so much the word, but how it's meant.</p>
<p>So I see what you mean to an extent, but if no one means any harm by it, then there is truly no harm being done.</p>
<p>I don't find the term homosexual offensive. Some people do, I guess.</p>
<p>first off you cant compare a derrogatory term like the "n" word to the use of the word homosexual. I am black and i understand what you mean about being in the situation but at the same time i would think a slang term such as gay would be worse than homosexual</p>
<p>i know that a lot of times people do not mean harm by the term, but the context that it is in can be hurtful. when someone calls someone else a homosexual, it strips away their identity to nothing but their sexuality. it is as if nothing else that they do or say has value, and it is often accompanied by a demeaning tone. anyway, most people prefer the term gay. its true that gay also used to have negative connotations, but the GLBT community has tried to change the negative word into a positive one, by the way they use it.</p>
<p>aka the exact same thing that happened with the "n" word...</p>
<p>You shouldn't become so upset about something minute if the person doesn't mean anything by it. All you have to do is say, "I really don't like that term." I've never met a gay person to be offended by that term, however, so I have no qualms about using it, especially since it's in no way negative when I say it. Just learn there are lots of terms out there directed at everything, and some of them may be offensive to you, but if then the person means no harm, don't explode and accuse them of prejudices that they in no way have exhibited. That's not exactly fair of to expect people to know your personal opinion (particularly when it doesn't necessarily follow a trend well-known in society).</p>
<p>geez... you guys reply too fast heh... sorry if I always seem a few posts behind.</p>
<p>wait...
homosexual is offensive? gay isn't?
wow i always thought it was the other way round... :/</p>
<p>im not personally hurt by the term homosexual, but i was annoyed that someone devoted a whole thread to all the gay people they see in their school. i noticed someone used the term homosexual to describe one of the students at his school, and i did feel that it was kind of rude because of the way he said it. saying that i saw a homosexual at school today is much like saying i saw a black today. do you guys see the tone ?</p>
<p>yeah but in the way you mentioned it was negative (or at least in the way you're presenting it) and that's not what we're talking about. We're just talking about the term, at least that's the argument you brought up. So yeah. I completely lost my train of thought. I'm going to bed on that note. Good night.</p>
<p>good night</p>
<p>seeing as its LGBT and not LHBT, i will have to go with the G for Gay. just like how i go with the C in NAACP... just kiddin.</p>
<p>btw. i'm a huge gay rights activist. i was going to do this program last summer (<a href="http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/student/library/record/1777.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/student/library/record/1777.html</a>) but it conflicted with RSI. so if any of you guys are interested, it's like a one week leadership summit on GLBT issues, for about 50 kids from the US that they pick based on essays that you write, completely free of charge, in chicago during the summer... That links to last year's app, i don't think they have the 06-07 one up yet... and they totally loved my essays and were kinda ****ed off that I couldn't go... I'll try again this year, but I might be hanging out at RSI. Hopefully with some gainful employment.</p>