Honestly, I grew up in a time where gay just meant "dumb". I still say it from time to time on accident, knowing that it's unacceptable say it today.
Like, I've called so many things "gay" through the decades that it's lost any connection to LGBT stuff in my head. But strangely, I've never used it as an insult to a person. I have no idea why.
I'm a living example of that south park episode with the bikers...
Mostly the same for "f@g". My gay friends called each other that back in the 90's. LOL, they called me that. It simply wasn't a big deal, no harm, no foul.
Same for "retard". I got a warning from a reddit mod I liked, on a really reasonable sub, for talking about "retarding the action" on a mechanical device. Yeah.
While we're at it, I didn't know "negro" had somehow turned into a pejorative until Oceans 11 came out. I thought it was a polite, though archaic, word. "Colored" had been out for some time, but again, I thought it was just an old word and nobody cared. And "Eskimo", and "Oriental", and so on. Never heard those words used in a derogatory context. (Gods please, don't try to educate me. I truly get it now. Just relating my experiences and thoughts for context.)
This kinda thing is what conservatives are on about. No, they're not sad that they can't throw n****r around any longer. FFS, that word has been anathema since I was a child in the 70s. It's just that language is changing at an historic rate, and fuck you if you don't keep up with every nuance. Anyone remember when "African-American" was a big thing, and even black people were laughing at it?
I have no desire to hurt anyone's feelings, always trying to learn, but on a single decade's timeline, language is a minefield. Now do 50-years. (OK, don't care about conservatives or Russians, but you get my drift.)
Same for "retard". I got a warning from a reddit mod I liked, on a really reasonable sub, for talking about "retarding the action" on a mechanical device. Yeah.
I had some limited entertainment hassling mods on reddit about their stupid automated bots that couldn't understand that words like "retard" or "abort" have meanings outside of insults and politics.
It's so fucking hilarious that there's a pink floyd poster on the wall of that gif too...
But yeah, I'm the same - I have no desire to hurt anyone's feelings. I support the existence of LGBT people, I'm not exactly going to pride events or anything, but my daughters are somewhere along that spectrum of sexuality and I don't give them shit for it; I've always supported them.
Yeah if I heard another straight guy say the word “heterophobic” I would unleash an onslaught of bullying so brutal that he’d wish he’d never learned the word.
Same way hearing gay used as an insult would feel to a gay person, I would imagine. Only in this case there's the added layer of the straight person incurring cognitive dissonance. People respond to that in different ways, denial being one of them.
At least, that's what I came to the conclusion of when I was made aware of my behavior as a straight person. Instead of living in denial, though, I changed and banished using gay as an insult. Now I just dislike both.
look at you. getting offended cause i used what amounts to a meme response. so offended. Lemmy is just reddit jr. anyway.
second, no one is getting offended by being called straight. if a gay person used "that so straight" in front of me i'd fucking laugh cause it's funny. fuck off with your "fragility" bullshit.
I don't like being called sis. No one asked me if I'm sis. Sounds pretty sus thar a bunch of Gays came up with a new name for the population that literally keeps the species going.
How about instead of sis or straight. I'm - I dunno. Supreme over lords? Too much? Well to bad. I identify as a supreme overlord and if you don't call me one I guess that make you a fascist.