Imagine yourself as a teen struggling with your sexuality. Then you might complain about how “everyone’s too PC” and how we should all just lighten up.Ĭonsider it for a second, though: how could the phrase NOT perpetuate negative feelings about and stereotypes of gays and lesbians? When you say that something bad is “gay,” you are in effect saying that being gay is bad. I have gay friends.” It’s the intentions of the speaker that count, not the word choice, you’ll argue. I don’t actually mean anything against gay people. You’ll keep using the phrase, but you’ll follow it with a disclaimer if you’re challenged: “But I’m not homophobic. When you get older, you might figure out that degrading gay people isn’t exactly a sign of sophistication and intelligence. Who hasn’t? You heard or saw something that you thought was stupid or ridiculous, and you blurted out, “Oh, that’s so gay.”That phrase is typically used to identify something as negative, and it’s been in our vocabularies since about the third grade. Below are three articles that deal with the term “That’s so gay!” and why it is offensive to the gay and lesbian community. Gay and Lesbian Miamians hear this phrase often, but alarmingly we been hearing it from some faculty and staff on campus. It comes as no surprise that the term “that’s so gay” echos around the Miami campus as often as the Beta Bells chime.
