Dude This is so Gay

This is a topic that frustrates me to no end. So often I hear people, especially teenage boys, refer to things as gay. I can't count how many times I have been walking through the hallways of my high school and heard "Ugh man that test was so gay" or "God these shorts are so gay, I hate them". Really? Was that test you just took a man who is physically attracted to men? Do your shorts want to be in a relationship with someone of the same sex? No? Well then stop calling them gay! I honestly find it utterly baffling why things are even described as gay. Unless you are describing the sexual orientation of someone who is actually gay there is no need to ever use the word in casual conversation.

Really the only thing the mutilation of the word gay shows is how engrained homophobia is in modern society. People calls things gay in a negative way, as if the worst insult you could give someone or something would be to say they like people of the same sex. To use a phrase that describes an unchangeable trait a person has no choice in inhabiting as a derogatory insult, is terribly upsetting. Especially when people who belong to the LGBTQIAP community use the term themselves to degrade or downplay someone of something. They are literally using a word that describes their own people to inflict pain or discomfort. How are they ever supposed to accept themselves if our language refuses to accept them? What an uncomfortable environment to exist in; to know that at any point someone, even someone you thought identified with you, could hurl a term across the room that simultaneously pinpoints a key part of your being and tears it to shreds.

Hopefully, with a little effort, we can move towards ending the awful misuse of the word gay. We can all do something small and stop the proliferation of the term in tracks by letting people know when they have used it derogatorily or incorrectly. Yes, you might get some frustrated looks. But is that really such a hard price to pay for a better, more accepting future?