G’s Spot: That’s so Gay

by Georgia McClellan

    “Dude, stop being a faggot.”

    “That is so gay.”

    “No homo.”

    I have heard all these phrases within the past 24 hours on this campus. Some of you reading this might have used these choice words in the last few days yourself. I know I certainly have and that needs to stop.

    The use of this language is something called Casual Homophobia. Casual Homophobia is when a person throws around derogatory terms toward the LGBT community in their everyday life, whether they actually are homophobic or not. Typically, I find it being the men on this campus that resort to such language most.

  The other day I heard a fraternity brother, I will not say which fraternity, use the word ‘faggot’ while having a conversation with a group of friends. I was immediately caught off guard by his casual tone as if he had not just used a hateful word.

    Now, I know this guy and consider him to be a good friend. He is the furthest thing from a homophobe, but how can I feel safe being who I am when he uses this language? Does he actually have negative feelings toward the LGBT community? Does he have negative feelings toward me?

    Let’s say one of the fraternity brothers is a gay man who is in the closet. How would he feel being around people that use this language? I can almost guarantee he would not feel safe to come out even if his brothers would accept him. It is the casual use of these words that are halting progress for acceptance of the LGBT community.

    I do not hold anything against this guy for using the words he did because I know he did not mean it to be hurtful, but that does not mean it was not offensive. It is easy to let most of these comments slide because no one wants to be the a**hole to call someone out. However, it is time to put an end to these derogatory comments.

    For those who know me, they know I have used the phrase “that is gay” frequently in my life. Almost everyday. I always played it off by arguing I was allowed to say it because I actually am gay. Makes sense right? But how can I expect other people to correct this negative trend when I will not even do it myself?

    So I am taking a pledge to end Casual Homophobia by cutting terms like “that is gay” out of my vocabulary, and I challenge you all to do the same. If you hear someone in your life use hateful words call him or her out on it. I am not saying attack them or start a fight. It is extremely simple and effective to say something like:

    “Hey, let’s not use that word, it is offensive.”

    Or “Yo fam, that word makes me uncomfortable, can you not use it?”

    Stopping casual homophobia is as simple as that. Together, we as a campus can make CMU a place for students to feel safe and included regardless of their sexuality. So again, I challenge you to stop casually using words like ‘gay’ and ‘faggot.’ You never know who you could be hurting.