I am pretty sure this will be taken as a sarcastic statement, but I used gay as a pejorative in a conversation with an associate of mine. Realizing my fault I told him I would find an LGBT forum and apologize to the community on it. I understand that using any group or identifier as a pejorative is demeaning toward that group and pushes back the advances of just acknowledging that any group should not be viewed as anything separate, as orientation, the role we play, or what gender we identify as should be as non-distinguishing as wearing nail polish on your toes. So I'd like to say sorry, and have a good one people of empty closets. I hope you all have wonderful lives that help other people have wonderful lives as well.
Hey!!! Glad you realized it and apologized! Too cool. It's pretty awesome that you thought about it and wrote this post. It distinguishes you from others that let it fly and don't think about the consequences of what's been said. Total kudos to ya!
It speaks a lot to your character that you would seek people out, even if not related to that person, to articulate that you feel remorse for having done that. As you know, we deal with hurtful comments that deny our humanity, sometimes on a daily basis. It drives some of us to suicide. But I have nothing but compassion in my heart for a person who realizes the error and wants to remediate it. Come walk with us if your heart desires. ~ Adrienne
Who cares, I use it too and I am gay! Im sure you didn't mean anything by it. We need to get away from being afraid of words in this society.
We certainly should not be afraid of words. But we also are in danger of words becoming meaningless...or meaningful in ways we don't intend. When you use the word "gay" to mean "stupid" or "lame" or "worthy of ridicule" but don't *believe* that gay people are stupid, lame, or worthy of ridicule, then you are not saying what you mean...rather, you are promoting beliefs that you (claim you) don't share, validating those beliefs in others, and helping to destroy the meaning of words in our culture. When you do this, you are not using words to communicate...you are using them to sloppily convey emotion in a way that is guaranteed to cause pain in others and pain for others. When you do this (especially if you are LGBT), *who is it* that is being stupid, lame, and worthy of ridicule? To the OP, I agree with the majority of posters here...far from sarcastic, I think it's kinda cool that you'd seek us out to apologize. It'd show even more character if you'd stick around to hear our responses (rather than muttering a quick "sorry" and walking away), and maybe learn something about us. But in any case, apology accepted in the spirit in which it was offered. *smile*
Thanks for being so brave hope you can get to know some of us because we are a friendly group of individuals
