this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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These are all example from decades ago growing up in the 90’s.
I was called gay for not liking soccer, like it’s gay to not watch men chase a ball in shorts.
I was called gay for wearing UGG boots as a dude. Like if we even want to accept gay as an insult, I would argue the person bothered by such things as what shoes one is wearing is more fitting of an insult.
Fun fact. When I had a house mate who was gay, it was very difficult not to use gay as a word for something that wasn’t fun. Like this show is gay. He didn’t mind, but still wanted to stop.
I somehow managed to condition myself into thinking of gay as a complement term. People I hung out with in high school used to call things "straight" derogatively. Something was straight if it was boring, bland, predictable, superficially performative in a conformist manner, etc.
I read a lot as a child and watched very little TV. So in first grade, I only knew the "traditional" meaning of gay. The first time I remember hearing it in the sense of homosexual was when a classmate told me, in a hushed and gossipy tone, "one of the Teletubbies is gay." (I did know about the show even if I hadn't ever watched it.) I didn't really react, but all I was thinking was, "aren't they all?"
growing up in the ’90s*
Thanks.