#IDAHOT

Today was the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT – catchy acronym).

The people organising the event have produced a series of posters with catchy little slogans on them. My favourite is ‘Gay is not an insult.’

Take the expression ‘That is SOOOOO gay!’ said in a disparaging tone with the deliberate intent to demean. Kids are particularly guilty of saying this.

It may be obvious to most right thinking people but being gay is not such a bad thing. Like most things we write and say, before writing or saying it, it’s a good idea to substitute the word ‘black’* as a sort of ‘ism-filter’. So, if we apply the ever trusty ‘ism-filter’ we come up with ‘That is SOOOOO black!’ said in a disparaging tone…clearly this isn’t acceptable.

Now, naturally, it’s all about the tone and intent when it comes to these sort of things. For instance, if someone was watching a Gay Pride event and was commenting on one of the wonderfully decorated floats, saying ‘That is SOOOOO gay!’ would be perfectly acceptable and, I’d assume, appreciated. Similarly, if someone was entranced, watching Martin Luther King giving his ‘I had a dream’ speech, it would probably be okay to say ‘That is SOOOOO black!’ in a voice edged with awe.

Don’t get me wrong, I know why it’s used as an insult. Actually, there’s a few reasons. Firstly, because ‘gay’ has become a substitute word for all the words we can no longer use because people regard them as racist or sexist or just not very nice.

“Let’s use ‘gay’,” Decided some halfwit without much originality, “They won’t mind. How could they? They are, after all, SOOOOO gay!”

Another reason is harder to explain. For some reason, a lot of people are frightened by homosexuality. I have no idea why. How can it possibly effect them? If it’s religious conviction then, again, why are they bothered? I read about violent attacks on gays and I really have to question the motive. Why try and destroy someone who is never likely to harm you?

What is there to be scared of? That’s what I’d love to ask them. Or perhaps these strange, violent types just like inflicting pain because they’re missing the Civilisation Gene or something and a gay person is a soft target. Whatever the reason, it’s a sad reflection on everyone that it happens at all because it seems to happen for no reason.

I guess that one day it’ll be accepted that using the word gay as an insult is unacceptable and then some other group of people will become the targets. It would be nice to think that it would just stop altogether but, seriously? I think not. If nothing else, Man is a consistent moron and fears change almost as much as he fears homosexuals.

There’s an ad campaign in the UK at the moment with the tag line, Be More Dog. Maybe we should all Be More Gay.

And finally for my gay themed post…if you fancy a good read, here’s a lovely post in response to a rather stupid tweet from a UKIP politician the other day.

Apropo of nothing…today, in 1902, The Wizard of Oz was originally published. Coincidence?

* Note that I was going to use the word ‘Muslim’ instead of ‘black’ but they tend to get ridiculously upset so I thought it better to stick with the racial rather than the religious.