Coleman wrote:zimmah wrote:homosexuals are gay.
This post is incredibly inspired. We need some CC medals for these.
I think people should watch this if they haven't:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZha8DXS-Cs (warning swearing, chris rock, nsfw, bad singing, ect)
I'm with the George Carlin school of thought on all this stuff. There is no such thing as a bad word, it is how the word is being used. Also anytime you try to tell other people what to do on a large scale like this you have to know you are going to fail.
You need some power or a lot of other like minded people to back you up. That just isn't going to happen with this topic.
According to the author, most gays agree with him, and his position seems to be common among the Gender Studies professors, so I think he's got the back-up.
What's lacking is enforcement.
For example, the main reason why white people tend not to call black people "niggers" is because the reaction has the potential to become violent. Does Mr. White Guy want to get hurt or risk getting hurt? No, so, he'll tend to refrain from saying such a word.
Then, the question turns to this: Do most people care if they hurt a homosexual's* feelings? What's really the risk involved here?
If you can answer that, then you can see whether 1) you value using that word enough after facing the consequences of doing so, or 2) you value not using that word because you respect other people's feelings in this issue. (1 and 2 can mix).
*"homosexual" is easier to write than "the individuals of the LGBT community"