Think before you speak

[xavierhonre]

This is not SPAM. This is an informative, REAL thread.

Hello, I'm a GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) spokes person in training. I wanted to post information about one of the newer campaigns that have caught a lot of attention, especially in my community. It's called Think Before You Speak (www.thinkb4youspeak.com). It focuses on putting the term "That's so Gay" into perspective for people who aren't gay. Here are a few of the materials: (Note: I have permission from GLSEN to show these materials as I am)

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpBYKOs3ys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejCqgAKZ-M&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Jf59TGxaU&feature=channel

Posters:

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/TheCampaign/thumbs/Print_Jock.jpg

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/TheCampaign/thumbs/Print_Cheerleader.jpg

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/TheCampaign/thumbs/Print_GamerGuy.jpg

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/TheCampaign/thumbs/Print_Gay.jpg

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/TheCampaign/thumbs/Print_Faggot.jpg

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/TheCampaign/thumbs/Print_Dyke.jpg



So what do you think? Are you offended by the posters? The point is not to offend people and "get revenge!" but rather to show how hurtful these expressions can be.

Let me know what your opinions are.

~Xavier

[Roxy_]

Ok to tell the truth i really dont get it

[xavierhonre]

Have you ever used the term "That's so Gay" when you mean something is dumb or stupid?

[keidriantiger]

Have you ever used the term "That's so Gay" when you mean something is dumb or stupid?


Actually no I haven't, but I know people who have D:

[AshBash93]

It's just a word. Get over it... really.

Not to mention homosexual people are monsters in the eyes of god.

[Commander Thor]

I see in one of your pictures, it states that once gay ment happy, then homosexual.
Well, the meaning of gay has changed yet again, it no longer means homosexual, at least not around these parts, the meaning has switched over to 'stupid' or 'dumb'.

Yes.
Yes I have said 'That's so gay' or 'That looks gay', or even 'You're so fucking gay'.
Did I ever mean it in a derogatory way towards homosexuals? No sir.

Hell, most (If not all) of the homosexuals that I know use gay to mean stupid or dumb.

Please, do us a favor, (And I mean this in the nicest way possible) Fuck off.

[Raize]

I don't get how calling someone gay is different from any other insults. Anyway...I think it'll just fade away over time, with gay marriages eventually becoming more common and the like. I'd say go after actions, not words. Words can be ignored, actions can't.

[Zero Beat]

It's just a word. Get over it... really.

Not to mention homosexual people are monsters in the eyes of god.

Im so glad ur been banned...

Im gay, and happy... i don't tend to get worked up by them sorts of things, tho it isnt nice.

[HelloWorld123456]

It's just a word. Get over it... really.

Not to mention homosexual people are monsters in the eyes of god.

ok this was really really evil this is why you shouwld have read this thread to know that you are fucking WRONG ... THATS PURE ASSHOLE-ISM ! Discriminating and offending gay people it is not cool it is very bad and uncool ... Thanks God you god banned ... and btw God loves everybody even if there are gay or str8 as me ... it doesnt make a difference ...


and yes i have used those phrases but because it is a routine .. You're so gay ... bla bla bla ... not to hurt ppl ..

[Bougainvillea]

That's gay. lol jk jk
I don't say it. But I think they mean don't call someone gay when they're homosexual and then say "That's gay" and mean stupid. It's like using the term for both unnecessary uses...?

[Rutherford The Brave]

ok this was really really evil this is why you shouwld have read this thread to know that you are fucking WRONG ... THATS PURE ASSHOLE-ISM ! Discriminating and offending gay people it is not cool it is very bad and uncool ... Thanks God you god banned ... and btw God loves everybody even if there are gay or str8 as me ... it doesnt make a difference ...


and yes i have used those phrases but because it is a routine .. You're so gay ... bla bla bla ... not to hurt ppl ..

Everyone calm down thank you very much :). I've never said that and I know what its like I have alot of gay and lesbian friends who are made fun off. I stand up for them, but in reality as much as I say wont really silence the nay sayers.

[xavierhonre]

It's just a word. Get over it... really.

Not to mention homosexual people are monsters in the eyes of god.

lol, you have no clue how many times a day I hear this. I hope this user didn't get banned for this comment, it's just their ignorance speaking.

I see in one of your pictures, it states that once gay ment happy, then homosexual.
Well, the meaning of gay has changed yet again, it no longer means homosexual, at least not around these parts, the meaning has switched over to 'stupid' or 'dumb'.

Yes.
Yes I have said 'That's so gay' or 'That looks gay', or even 'You're so fucking gay'.
Did I ever mean it in a derogatory way towards homosexuals? No sir.

Hell, most (If not all) of the homosexuals that I know use gay to mean stupid or dumb.

Please, do us a favor, (And I mean this in the nicest way possible) Fuck off.

Well you're chipper aren't you? If you don't like my opinion you can just sit and spin because opinions are like ass-holes: Everyone has them and they all stink. :yes:

Btw, I expected this kind of reaction, and that's totally fine. I have just as much right to express my opinion as everyone else. I mean if I wanted to (and if I actually had this mind set) I could use the terms nigger, spik, kike, gook, etc. And then I could just say that I didn't mean it in a negative way, the meaning has just changed. Would that stop some of you from being offended?


Edit: I don't want people to think I'm getting nasty. I'm not mad or anything, it really takes a lot to get me fired up. I'm just sharing my POV.

[mr.sexy_bomb]

Well I am bi and when people say that kind of bs then it does hurt because is like they are saying that my sexuality is dumb and or stupid and I just think people should think before they speak

[Rutherford The Brave]

lol, you have no clue how many times a day I hear this. I hope this user didn't get banned for this comment, it's just their ignorance speaking.



Well you're chipper aren't you? If you don't like my opinion you can just sit and spin because opinions are like ass-holes: Everyone has them and they all stink. :yes:

Btw, I expected this kind of reaction, and that's totally fine. I have just as much right to express my opinion as everyone else. I mean if I wanted to (and if I actually had this mind set) I could use the terms nigger, spik, kike, gook, etc. And then I could just say that I didn't mean it in a negative way, the meaning has just changed. Would that stop some of you from being offended?


Edit: I don't want people to think I'm getting nasty. I'm not mad or anything, it really takes a lot to get me fired up. I'm just sharing my POV.


No you couldnt use those words, fairly in the right sense. I've reported this thread, I told you to calm down. When this starts happening, the mods have to know. I liked what you said, I watched the videos and I liked it and I agreed with you. Yet we still cannot argue.

[xavierhonre]

Fair Enough.

[Commander Thor]

Well you're chipper aren't you? If you don't like my opinion you can just sit and spin because opinions are like ass-holes: Everyone has them and they all stink. :yes:

Btw, I expected this kind of reaction, and that's totally fine. I have just as much right to express my opinion as everyone else. I mean if I wanted to (and if I actually had this mind set) I could use the terms nigger, spik, kike, gook, etc. And then I could just say that I didn't mean it in a negative way, the meaning has just changed. Would that stop some of you from being offended?


Edit: I don't want people to think I'm getting nasty. I'm not mad or anything, it really takes a lot to get me fired up. I'm just sharing my POV.

So according to you, your own opinion stinks?
Why even have one then?
Why not just accept what's going on around you, rather than pissing people off by shoving your 'gay rights' movement down their throat?
(I know by the looks of it, it seems as if I'm sorta anti-homosexual. I'm not really. I support homosexuals fully. It's when they tell me to accept them (Which I already do) that I get pissed off. I don't have blacks telling me to accept them, I just do. So why should I have another minority telling me to accept them?)

If you can show me an instance where you /could/ use those words, in a non-derogatory way, that most of society has accepted, then yes, you could use those words as often as you like.
But don't put severe, deragatory words that are MENT to be deragatory, in place of a soft, non-deragatory word, that ISN'T MENT to be deragatory.


Also, if you're going to (-) rep me, at least be a man about it, and sign it.

[xavierhonre]

I'm not doing the negative Rep to you. I don't like negative rep, it's pointless. You earned the reputation points from other posts, why should you deserve to lose them because of this one?

Nice argument. So reputation plus! :]

[Commander Thor]

That last sentnace wasn't directed at you, it was in general. >_<
But anyway, thanks.

[xavierhonre]

Well anyways, I want to clean up this issue. I'm not trying to attack anyone, shove my opinion down someone's throat, or start any trouble, I'm just trying to let you guys know about this new campaign, it's certainly one of the first of it's kind. That's what I find most interesting.

And before any of you take a bad opinion of me, I'm really a good guy. Sorry if I came off as a dick.

After reading through the posts I realized that this thread has taken quite a nasty turn and I want to steer it back on track before it gets locked and the entire thing is pointless.

So has anyone actually seen these commercials on TV? I know for sure they air on 'The N'

[keidriantiger]

I don't get how calling someone gay is different from any other insults. Anyway...I think it'll just fade away over time, with gay marriages eventually becoming more common and the like. I'd say go after actions, not words. Words can be ignored, actions can't.

Word's can drive people to suicide without any phisical action involved. So it hurts, emotionally.

[Donkey]

This thread is so gay.

Honestly, what else are undereducated children who don't understand sexuality and that gay people have lives too going to say?

:P


Nice posters, but quite frankly, it won't make a difference. Just let the phase burn out.

[TODAYisTHEday]

The world is so primitive and imature. Its full of people who say they "don't care" but we know that isn't the truth. It is usually because they don't understand. A lot of people my age say things like "faggit" and they are not even meaning it in the sxuality way, but it still bugs me so.

The way I see it is if we got more people to understand how us (gay, bisexual, curious) people feel about these comments that it may change how they act and speak.

The program will not work for "every" single person in this world because not everyone thinks gay and bisexual people are "human". Its just fiendish and almost everyone I know and love hates this talk. I just hope that someday everyone will come to their senses and realize that bisexualism etc. is not wrong and can accept that.

[Cromm]

Regarding the replys: I agree that this is just a fad, and will probably fade into the distance along with all the other slang that was used for a few years, then forgoten. Can anyone remember someone who still uses the phase 'da bomb' in a non-ironic way? I can't. Having said that though, it doesn't make it any easier to hear.

No, you couldn't start using words like 'nigger' or 'gook' to mean stupid or bad for the same reason that one poster said: those words are meant to be hurtful and hateful. However, by the same token you could not replace it with a word that wasn't meant to be hatefull, and not have it taken badly. If I were to say "this music's so black", and meant it to mean bad or awful, that would be ignorant and hatefull; regardless of whether I intended it to be.


Now, in regards to the OP's questions

No, I've never seen these commercials; but I live in Toronto, Canada, and I don't know if they air here.

As for the posters, I think the dictionary ones get the message out better than the quote ones: I don't think kids are going to 'get it' with the first three. The dictionary ones though... they have a bit of a flat feeling. Like a lecture from a teacher about how 'you shouldn't be doing that'.


I myself, have never used the word "gay" as a substitute for "suck" or similiar dirivative; but I have used it to mean... well, "that's so gay".... Like when a skinny friend of mine decided to wear a sweater vest over a short sleave dress shirt.

[Jean Poutine]

To be honest I find your posters rather immature and counterproductive.

I am a huge gamer (and I have many, many more video games than friends) yet I do not use the word "gay" when I mean something bad. Usually "dumbass", "retard(ed)", "fucktard" suffices. In French, "crisse d'attardé de tabarnak" is my favourite curse chain.

These posters stereotype just as much as the people you're trying to fight against. I've met smart cheerleaders and jocks with conversation.

If you're going for the "SEE THAT'S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR THEM" effect, I really must say that it's an horrible way to convey a point.

Never let people figure out what you want to say lest your message becomes muddied. If you make fun of jocks and cheerleaders and they don't catch it they'll think it's alright to make (even more) fun of gay people in return.

At first glance your posters were as pointless as the people going "lol dats SO GAY". I consider myself a reasonable individual and even I had to give them an once over.

[MichaelAdams1993]

This thread is a great idea b/c this is a real issue. Some people don't realize what they are doing when they say "thats gay" or "your so gay". It turns the word gay into a synonym for dumb and stupid so that when someone actually is gay it makes them feel like they are dumb and stupid. I have used this word in this context at somepoints but after seeing this post and some other thinking I have done I have been doing my best to stop using it. I understand that not everyone is going to think the same and I understand if this upsets some people but there is yet to be a need to get to bent out of shape.

I would like to thank xavierhonre for bring up this issue and for keeping with it. I would also like to say to the people who are having problems with this thread that if they don't like it then they can put in there two cents and then leave it alone because unless you are genuinly interested in this thread I don't see why you keep coming back. Just tell us how you feel, nicely if possible, and then let it run its course. We like this to be a positive atmosphere but we understand that not everyone is going to feel that same way and it is nice to have some contradiction to show us exactly what is going on on both sides. There really is no need to be obnoxious though. Thanks.

[YourFriend]

i use the word gay to call some1 stupid so i could fit in, but i feel awful about it, especially bcs i am gay

[MisterMonster]

i don't see a problem with calling someone gay
especially if they are gay
i'd imagine they'd welcome that.
It's just a word. Sure, words hurt a lot more than punches sometimes, but only if you let them.
The only reason someone would REALLY not like being called gay is if they were homophobic
in which case i think it would make sense to do it more.

[Jean Poutine]

BTW.

Think before you speak July 3rd, 2009 01:42 AM yeah well we dont want your negative post here ok

I'm sorry you don't like opinions that don't exactly match your own. Unfortunately we're not in Soviet Russia.

Tolerance isn't a single-way road. Let it be known.