No worries, Fruitstrike is someone super awesome I respect who is very passionate about topics like this so I wanted to properly direct discussion his way.

My response to Lyte was a joke... that's why I said, "I jest." The only real thing I said there was about the accurate info part.

Really, the thread isn't about being labelled homosexual regardless of orientation, it's about the use of pejorative terms by ignorant, bigoted hate-mongers.

You are right though. People don't usually like to be mislabeled.

Dunno, so I upvoted you.

As for your question: I also don't find those terms inherently insulting. My friends and I toss around slurs and foul language without caring, because those words are not and should not be inherently insulting. I honestly think it's just a culture thing; right now, people are taught to hate those words, so that reaction is there. Valid? Arguable. Still, that seems to be the case.

While not gay myself I hope this helps you understand.

Sure it may mean the same thing as slang, but then you could argue n*gger and african american or black person are the same thing. It may represent the same people, but one is highly offensive and was brought into vocabulary to offend people.

The word was never intended to be used as friendly banter, it was used to cast people down.

And while it may not offend everyone, words like this will always offend some people.


P.S. OP, how you don't have more upvotes idk, but you got my +1.
You don't have to be gay to be offended by the hatred.

Tossing around words with friends, and aiming to insult a stranger are two very different things. That being said, I don't report people for a single insult. Although i don't consider bigotry to be as simple as trying to insult someone. It speaks of something deeper inside that person's personality. And before anyone says that they are just words, it's not about the words for me. A word isn't a bigot, it's the way the person uses the word: the intent.

It is definitely a culture thing. The culture/environment/setting dictates what is acceptable behavior. I served on submarines, and there was plenty of day to day conversation there that isn't acceptable in... well, any civilized setting. We had civilian VIPs on board one day, and I realized while having a conversation with a friend that I had forgotten how to filter my own speech. I went to bed so that I wouldn't offend anyone.

Yeah, but why did people start to get offended initially by it? For example, racists called black people black using the word n*gger. They were calling them black and they were insulted by that. Why?

I mean, it was probably accompanied by tones of mocking and humiliation so the victims of harassment connected the word n*gger with insults, but I believe it was a wrong connection to make. It's not the words themselves that insult, it's the intent, tone of voice and all the subtext behind the said words.

So, all those "insulting words" are loaded. They have a commonly placed subtext behind them. Does that mean that every time such a word was used, it creates that intent? I don't think so. As I said, I often call my gay friends f*ggots and we are all ok with that. It's the intent that matters.

But still, I can't understand why someone would get insulted by a word without intent. My mistake here could be that I'm too logical about this, while it's an emotional thing, but it stays beyond my understanding.


Sry for long post, I've been questioning and answering myself and writing helps me organize things. I'd still like to hear other people's thoughts.

why are u embarassed to be called that, you should be proud. 5% of earth is homosexual and its nothing to be shamed of....

It isn't friends in the game. It's strangers that are intending to insult. The intent isn't positive, or neutral. Use of these words between friends, allows the words to be just that. There is no malice or ill will. It's different when used in anger or frustration at a stranger, which is really the subject of everything on the forums: Interactions between strangers, and how that community wants to exist.

This.

You can't speak for other peoples' intent. Rather than everybody intending to insult, the issue a lot of the time is that you are open to being insulted.

Random example: I'm in-game, facecheck a bush and get gibbed by a fed something-or-other. I say "What a f**" in chat lightheartedly, meaning to convey my displeasure at being facerolled so easily. Any reference to homosexuality is the last thing on my mind, I just chose a random word. I could just have easily said "What a c***" or "What a d***"; however, you view this as a direct bigoted attack upon homosexuals.

That's a bit silly imo.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, using it maliciously is indeed out of order and should be treated as such. But to say that the problem lies with the words themselves rather than the context and manner in which they are being used is narrow-minded and frankly quite naive. I could throw together a string of perfectly polite words which would be much more offensive than a single arbitrary term could ever be, despite it being labeled as a strict "no-no" to some folk.