Banned Books and Lesbians

[Brian Cordova <blessedbrian@yahoo.com>]

  Personally, I'm just Brian (who just happens to be gay and learning 
to laugh at words that used to scare me).

  Me:-)

  "Those who can laugh at themselves will never cease to be amused."

  --author unknown

  "Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."
  --Professor Dumbledore



> 
> Me:
> 
> >> "gay" should be used only as an adjective. "Gay" as a noun -
 "gays gathered
> >> for a demonstration" - is not acceptable."
> 
> Annemehr:
>  
> > This is *completely* new to me.  I'll take it to heart.  BTW, you 
seem
> > to allow for the use of "lesbian" as a noun, am I correct?
> 
> Yes. I'm quite prepared to be corrected by a lesbian, but AFAIK and 
IIRC
> "gay men" and "lesbians", "gay people", "he is gay", "a gay man" 
and "a
> lesbian" are fine, but "a gay" (a gay *what* is the 
question) "gays" and
> "the gays" are offensive to some. "She is lesbian" sounds silly 
and, the
> right tone of voice, offensive. Many lesbians prefer the group 
term "gay men
> and lesbians".
> 
> I suppose it's the similar problem that I face as a white person 
when
> referring to black people: African-American? Afro-Caribbean? People 
of
> color? Black? black? (lowercase intentional) Brown? I tend to stick 
with
> African-American when referring to black Americans, Afro-Caribbean 
when
> referring to black Brits, and then I keep my antennae out for 
reactions,
> corrections or language used by the other person, adapting mine to 
suit.s
> 
> Personally? This is *really* nitpicky, which is why I didn't bring 
it up
> earlier. I don't use "gays" and I do usually point out that people 
find it
> offensive. However, I find "homosexual" more offensive, simply 
because it
> reduces gay people to sex, sex, sex. Despite the userinfo page on my
> LiveJournal. *grin*
> 
> --J
> 
> ______________________________________
> 
> Queer as John || john at q...
> 
> AIM, YM & LJ @ QueerAsJohn || www.queerasjohn.com
> 
> "There's nowt as queer as folk."  --English proverb
> ______________________________________