Feeling Pretty and Witty but not Homosexual (was: response to, etc.)

[Queer as John]

I'd respond to Meira's points, but Laura did it wonderfully for me. *wink*

Laura Ingalls Huntley said:

> Also, in closing...I wanted to ask John about the term "homosexual".  It is
> not considered derogatory at all at my school -- but we definitely aren't
> representative of any other society than our own (this is what happens when
> you stick 150 teenagers in a small dormitory and cut them almost completely
> off from the rest of the *world*).  Logically, I would have thought that
> "homosexual" would be *less* offensive than "gay", as homosexual just sort
> of explains the nature of one's sexual orientation (like a medical or
> scientific term, really...as opposed to heterosexual) and gay is slang.

Well, this gets into the question of community dynamics and perceptions.
Many people believe that the gay community is more than just sex. It's about
a different way of life resulting from various influences, including shared
experience of the closeting process, coming out, homophobia, discrimination,
etc.. Hence the preference to use "gay" instead of "homosexual".

To some, "homosexual" carries flashbacks to the days before the 1973
declaration by the American Psychiatric Association that homosexuality was
not pathological. It's _clinical_. Hospital-like. Sterile.

Back in the early days of the gay rights movement, we were called
"homophiles". Now doesn't _that_ have some loaded meaning these days? The
word changed to "homosexual", probably as a result of the increased use of
the word "pedophile/paedophile", though I'm not too clear on the history
behind this.

I don't think that "gay" can be regarded as slang any more. It's used by the
BBC in their style guide, and that's usually regarded as a Slang Free Zone.

Did that help? Feel free to shoot back with questions.

--J

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