Is anyone else bothered by the use of the "gay"?

As a lesbian I can honestly say that I am not offended by the word gay in regards to my sexuality. I am bothered, not enough to be offended by its liberal use as an insult or in place of lame, stupid, etc. Unfortunately, in this day and age, people have a strong need to label people or groups. For some, the word gay is indeed used to describe the homosexual population in a derogatory manner, but I know for myself, partner, and friends, we would much rather be referred to as gay rather than homosexuals, not for any reason other than we don't care for the sound of the word. I do get frustrated when I see the term gay being used as an insult, especially within the teen age group since there are so many teens questioning their sexuality and now feel even more pressure to conform to what is more widely accepted rather than feeling comfortable to be who they are without the threat of ridicule and outcast.

The use of the word 'Gay' changed from meaning happy to homosexual, which was meant to be a positive thing because it gives a positive relation to being a homosexual.

I think the word is just changing meaning again but for a darker reason, homophobia. There will be haters always and people will always pick up expressions whether the source is recognized or not.

Slang is slang and should not be taken seriously :)

Just deal with it. People will use any word they want. Outlaw a word and two things will happen.

1. The word will be more fun to use because it is outlawed.

2. They will just make some other harmless term derogitory.

Just like '******' is a cigarette or bundle of sticks... Words are always going to be thrown around, just don't let it get to you.

edit: Or you could use censorship to cover something like f*ggot, which not only annoys me because it ruined the above thought, but you have no clue what the heck I had typed before.

Honestly, every homosexual person that I know (my part of the country, or a least the crowd I hang out with include probably less than the average amount of those folks) refer to themselves as "gay."

The English language is a living language. So it is subject to change.

I think "gay' is the best choice if you need to identify someone by their sexual orientation. There are Gay Parades and Gay Pride so it seems the people who are in the category are OK with it.

In my personal experience, the males I know are OK with "gay" but some of the women I know prefer to be called lesbians.

Situations can be awkward when the person is bi-sexual or transgender.

'gay' of course isn't a correct word to use when talking bad bout something. but unfortunately it can't be stopped, as it has become such a common word in our vocabulary specially those of teenagers.

And although i know some in and out of the GLBTA community find it offensive, they will just have to deal with it.

and i really dont think is that big of a deal anyway.

Because human beings are the ultimate hypocrites, and they can justify what they say and do anyway they please. It's our nature. :)

I personally am not bothered by using the word gay in a derogatory fashion; I really don't care what homophobes think. But, unfortunately, it is looked upon as an "acceptable" word with a negative connotation.

The word F@G should be BANNED.

Hate to say it, but of all the terms you can use, "gay" is the least offensive. Try to come up with 10 other names that are used to describe them and every single one is more of an insult.

It is deragatory, but is it a strong part of American slang today. It can't be avoided. The term 'Christian' was once a derogatory term for followers of Christ, but now it's a term of pride for them. A few years down the line, the use of gay for something stupid will eventually change, like common slang tends to.

It probably doesn't bother me as much since the group of friends I associate myself with are gay friendly or gay themselves, so that word isn't really in our vocabulary.

Even when I used to hang around with other people it didn't bother me much because I was young, I'm so glad you are speaking out about it though, it can get so annoying.

But where I come from people use a LOT worse than the word gay, like, direct quote. "HAHAHA ISN'T IT FUNNY THOSE TWO F*GGOTS ARE LAUGHING?!" Or I'll be walking and since two of my friends are openly gay we'll get yelled at and calls f*gs. it's horrible. Why do people suck that much? Because they suck. :[