Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. At what point do these words really start to hurt and leave wounds though?

In the LGBT, there are a select few words that have more of a negative impact than others do. The big question I often have to ask myself is, “do we let these words tear us down?” Or do we take the power away from these words, diminishing the impact they have on us?

The reason why these words are taboo in our community is because they are so often used out of deep hatred. Words like “Faggot,” “Dyke” and “Tranny” are just some of the examples of language that extremely offends the LGBT community.

To this day, every time I hear the word “faggot,” I cringe. I cringe because this is the type of language my attackers used on me when I was the victim of a violent hate crime my sophomore year at CMU. But why do we let this language get to us? They are, after all, just words.

Words have feelings tied to them, context, and most of all they have power. Some who belong to the LGBT community may feel that using these words in a humorous sense can take the power away from these words, that if we just own these titles and wear them with pride, we can somehow make the hate less impactful. Although that may be an unpopular stance, to an extent I do agree that this can be an effective way to lessen the painful meanings these words have.

However, this isn’t a universal stance we as a community need to take in dealing with this harmful language. Instead, we need to teach others, most specifically the youth, that this type of language can really hurt a person. We must teach people that the only instance in which we as a community ever hear these words is when others are using them to oppress us. These words still carry such negativity with them and can have real impact.

I shouldn’t have to think back about the night I was attacked every time I hear the word “faggot.” I shouldn’t have to feel frightened every time I hold another guy’s hand in public when I see other people looking at us.

My point is, we live in a world where these words can still bring our fears to life in the LGBT population. Instead of not taking them seriously, maybe we take some time to think of how these words have hurt others and then educate people on the impact that these words truly do have.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu