The Word 'Gay'

[lupestripe]

When did the word 'gay' start to be used to describe something bad or to be ridiculed? And isn't the repeated use of the word in this way a tacit acceptation of discrimination? The fact that the word was used repeatedly during my secondary schools days in such a negative way caused untold problems when it eventually came to accepting my sexuality. I rarely agree with Peter Tatchell but I think the overuse of the word in the playground and online to describe bad things sometimes does have negative connotations. Or am I just suffering from a humour by-pass?

Comments

[megadog.livejournal.com]

As we used to say in the playground 40 years ago: Sticks and stones may break my bones but names they cannot hurt me.

[haunter-uk.livejournal.com]

And whoever it was that came up with that phrase never actually had to deal with a prolonged bullying campaign against them.

The physical stuff was far easier to deal with.