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Joe · 02-11-2002, 11:27 AM

I don't think gays ever decided as a group to co-opt words like gay or queer.

These were given to us by the straight world, for whatever reason. My guesses:

gay - overtly happy? Seems apt, most gays don't share the cares of the straight world.

queer - oddly different? Same, the straight world sees us and goes "..the heck?" they don't get it, so we seem strange indeed.

fag - Flaming? I think this predates my time, but there are (or were) some gays that dress flamboyantly, in costumes that would put a Vegas show to shame. For the record, I'd say 95% of gays dress so normally that they blend in with everyone else.

Any of these could be derogatory or not, depending on the speaker. I don't know who had the guts to do "Queer as folk" but that show is the coolest thing I've seen on TV in years. The level of production is awesome. Hats off to Showtime for that one.

02-11-2002, 11:27 AM	#47
Joe Master of the Domain Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: AZ Posts: 221	not stolen, more like assigned I don't think gays ever decided as a group to co-opt words like gay or queer. These were given to us by the straight world, for whatever reason. My guesses: gay - overtly happy? Seems apt, most gays don't share the cares of the straight world. queer - oddly different? Same, the straight world sees us and goes "..the heck?" they don't get it, so we seem strange indeed. fag - Flaming? I think this predates my time, but there are (or were) some gays that dress flamboyantly, in costumes that would put a Vegas show to shame. For the record, I'd say 95% of gays dress so normally that they blend in with everyone else. Any of these could be derogatory or not, depending on the speaker. I don't know who had the guts to do "Queer as folk" but that show is the coolest thing I've seen on TV in years. The level of production is awesome. Hats off to Showtime for that one.