As a gay man, i personally don't find it offensive - its the same when people say oh thats pants, cos actually pants can be cool :D haha x

Always use that phrase as do most of my friends..
say it without even thinking..

I dont use the word myself, well not in that context.

I can understand given its etymology if some people got upset by its use.

Me personally find nothing wrong with it i say it all the time and so do a lot of my mates

I've never really used the word in that context since secondary school. Everybody should have left it there to be honest.

well considering the way people use it, basically to mean it's crap or sh!t, ofcourse it's offensive.

Especially because gay epople are the only minority that do NOT have equal rights in most countries.

How would you feel if you were the only British person in a class in America or wherever, and everyone kept saying "ugh, that's so british!" whenever they were describing something stupid, or crappy, or sh!t. I think you would be offended and it would start to piss you off eventually.

It is derogatory. Gay people are a minority, that do not have equal rights as citizens yet.

The equivalent would be people saying "that's so negro" 80 years ago when blacks didn't have equal rights. I think we'd all agree that saying "that's so negro" to describe something bad would be racist right?

This is no different.

This poll is interesting though. 72% of the forum are bigots.

The only people who find it offensive are people who are uncomfortable with their sexuality.

I can assure that you are wrong. I am very comfortable with my sexuality, and i have a BIG problem with it. maybe you should try speaking for yourself.

It makes me chuckle when people say it in front of me, and then turn and are apologetic, saying they didn't mean to be rude.

I don't care, it's not like they are being homophobic, I even catch myself saying it now and again. :)


I myself am gay, and I find it annoying when gays get angry over it. They need to stop being such sensitive soft-weights. And if you want to get technical about the wrod 'gay', it originally ment happy. :)

have you ever heard the term "uncle tom"?

Yes actually I have heard the term, and that plays no reference to the debate here.

Now if the word in question was '******', then the context of the meaning would be very different. As it so goes, the word is 'Gay' and is not meant in a homophobic manner. As you may notice, words change their meaning throughout history, and this word is a strong example.

Now I don't know much about the culture in the USA regarding homosexuals, but in UK, homosexuality is not anywhere near as frowned upon as it used to be, and generally, most people have no issue with it. Most gay guys I know here (myself included) have no issue with that expression, and why would we? It's not an insult directed towards us...

oh okay, so you think when someone says "that's so gay" they arn't referring to homosexuality at all? i think you are giving people the benefit of the doubt. i think you are naive.

it is homophobia imo. it comes from hip-hop culture, and it is specifically associating homosexuality with a negative context.

Maybe I am naive, but hey-ho, I'd rather be that than a sensitive soul who cries in protest at every single thing in the world...

To me the expression is no worse than saying you are having a blonde moment. It's harmless. So why make a fuss out of it? This world is getting too PC and soft.

Man up! You don't hear the blonde people of the world crying everytime someone uses the forementioned phrase :hugesmile:

Last time i checked, blondes have equal rights....

You don't seem to understand that gays do NOT have equal rights yet, and are the only legally discriminated against minority in both my country and yours.

That means a lot. (to some of us)


When was the last time you heard of a blonde committing suicide because they were blonde? When was the last time you heard of a blonde being beaten to death for being blonde?

Times are changing, fast, so one day it will happen. But equal rights has nothing to do with the phrase 'that's so gay'.

And to be honest, there are many more important things I can spend my time worrying about, such as recession, living, keeping a roof over my head etc, than to be fretting about a harmless, and sometimes comical, statement. :hugesmile:

harmless? perhaps you should do some reasearch about gay suicide rates. perhaps you should do some research about gay hate crimes around the world.

I know you guys like to say American's have no sense of humour, but i struggle to see what's so "comical" about equating homosexuality with sh!t. Please explain to me what's so funny about it.

I think you are taking the pharse a little too extremely. Last time I checked not one gay person committed suicide because somebody used that phrase to describe a situation or something.

I'm not denying that there is homophobia in the world, a great deal of it still, but this phrase isn't used or intended in a malicious or spiteful manner. If people are offended by this phrase then, in my opinion, they are far too sensitive.

Now, like I said, if somebody directly said to a gay man that they are a ******, disgusting, not right etc, then that is a direct, intended and nasty insult, something which should call for action.

so in what circumstances do you hear people say the phrase "this is so gay"??

can you give me some examples of how it is used that it isn't offensive?

Well, for example, I say to my mates sometimes that what there wearing is so gay, doesn't mean I don't like what they are wearing, it just makes them look like a gay man (or something I would wear). They don't take this offensively, because it's not meant offensively, and they certainly don't cry and go jump off a bridge because of it.

Look all I'm saying is that this is a harmless statement, if you want to take it as personal insult to all homosexuals, then feel free, but most gay guys I know couldn't give a toss about it, we are too busy waiting for the next Glee to start and worrying about when GaGa will next release an album. :hugesmile:


(and just incase anyone thinks I now like Gaga and Glee, I still do not! :) )

Well if we're going to frame this conversation in terms of "glee", i think Kurt would be offended if Finn said "that's gay". Infact here was an episode where Finn did get pissed off and say that exact thing.

Kurt's dad came to his defense, and kicked Finn out of his house because of it. it was a very poigniant episode of Glee.

I don't watch Glee, and I don't really care.

If you want to take the phrase as an insult, then feel free, I have said my side of the debate, I myself have better things to 'freak out' over. :hugesmile:

no one's freaking out over it. i've been incredibly reasoned and patient in my response to you.

I don't get offended or annoyed by it, but it's sad that people say that. I think it's sad because when somebody describes something NEGATIVE and uses the word 'gay', thats saying being gay is a negative. Even if you don't mean it in that way, it's still using it as a negative thing, where it shouldn't be.

Wrong. Finn called Kurt a fa**ot.