Popel Vooje
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Re: so gay?
Oct 30, 2004, 20:58
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Nah, I think that's fair enough. Even as a heterosexual I used to get insults like that shouted at me by chavs when I lived on a big estate in Roehampton, just because of the way I looked and dressed (and the fact that at the time I was sharing a flat with three women), and it ain't just a jokey thing, it's symptomatic of a real, deep-seated and nasty prejudice.
As LL has pointed out above, it's considered a complete taboo for white people to use the words "nigger" or "Paki" these days (and rightly so too, IMO, due to their unavoidable associations with slavery and colonialism) so why should "poof" be any different? As a periodic sufferer from clinical depression, I've had the word "psycho" shouted at me by asshole teenagers when I was on my way home from a day hospital, and that didn't f***ing well do much to alleviate my depression, I can tell you.
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Lawrence
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Re: so gay?
Oct 30, 2004, 21:16
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I was also called 'psycho' -- I guess my mental condition was apparent although no-one knew what it was back then...
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Daminxa
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Re: so gay?
Oct 31, 2004, 11:20
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I think I know the estate you mean in Roehampton - t'other half used to insulate their lofts on a council contract!
The psycho thing I really sympathise with as I too suffer from crippling depression and you come against all sorts of prejudice for what is essentially a widespread condition.
Mind you, having asthma or epilepsy or diabetes may be more 'socially acceptable' but they come up against it too; a diabetic girl I used to know who never did drugs in her life regularly got accused of being a junkie cos she had to inject insulin from time to time.
I don't always think these throw away insults are meant maliciously, but they indicate an underlying prejudice, as I think someone else said above. Prejudice is the most damaging force and eats away at the fabric of our society, and people should think before they open their mouths. OK, so some people, gay or otherwise, don't find the word 'poof' or whatever insulting, but some people do, and it doesn't hurt to consider other people's feelings. Sorry, sounding like a primary school teacher now but I'm massively sensitive and whilst I apperciate that not everyone else is, I kind of assume that if I wouldn't like a certain word thrown at me, then neither would anyone else. Do as you would be done by and all that - Lordy; sounding like my Mum now, and she used to be a primary school teacher as well!
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Lord Lucan
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Re: so gay?
Nov 01, 2004, 13:41
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Rubbish. I gave him a hard time because I found it offensive. Why don't you get that? What I said above about things having more resonance with some people than others still stands. You might not mind being called a poof. I do. We differ. Besides, my friend was in agreement with what I said once I'd explained why I *personally* found it offensive and he thought about what I'd said. And I didn't claim I was speaking for the whole of the gay community.
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Lord Lucan
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Re: so gay?
Nov 01, 2004, 13:55
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I did see your message below, and I wasn't making assumptions. I know you're in the same camp as me, so to speak, from previous postings here at HH. That's irrelevant. What I said is please respect that things like this do have resonance with some people more than others. I wasn't claiming to be speaking for the whole gay 'community', and knew I was replying to another gay person.
I didn't used to give much of a toss about casual homophobia. But I do now; it does offend me now, and I do think it makes a difference. Unchallenged homophobia in teenagers can lead to shit like this...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3969763.stm
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morfe
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Re: so gay?
Nov 01, 2004, 14:05
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Not to jump to any conclusions, but reading that report the timeline points out multiple attacks on people within the immediate area, including a lone woman. This, along with the robbery, seems to me blur the homophobic motivation somewhat.
I know that violent homophobes are out there But if I was set about and killed, why would it be assumed that it was because I was X or Y, when other/different people where attacked around the area by the same people?
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Lord Lucan
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Re: so gay?
Nov 01, 2004, 14:28
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The story in The Evening Standard says they were targetting people who were leaving Heaven nightclub (a gay venue) and that homophobic abuse was being shouted during the attack. Mind you, knowing the track record of accuracy in The Evening Standard...
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superboss
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Re: so gay?
Nov 13, 2004, 11:44
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i was called tefal at school!
and i am aware of the slapping wrists thing too
dear oh dear...that brings back bad memories of clacton on sea in the early ninteen eighties
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