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NoHomophobes.com tracks 'casual homophobia' on Twitter

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Pretty overwhelming, but so important.

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This website is designed as a social mirror to show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society. Words and phrases like “faggot,” “dyke,” “no homo,” and “so gay” are used casually in everyday language, despite promoting the continued alienation, isolation and — in some tragic cases — suicide of sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ) youth.

We no longer tolerate racist language, we’re getting better at dealing with sexist language, but sadly we’re still not actively addressing homophobic and transphobic language in our society.

Let’s put an end to casual homophobia. Speak out when you see or hear homophobic or transphobic language from friends, at school, in the locker room, at work or online. Use #NoHomophobes to show your support. And visit one of our resource websites to get more involved.
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Link
 
Haven't heard "So Gay" and "No Homo" in non-ironic ways since I left the 9th grade, I rarely ever hear "Dyke". "Faggot" is clearly the most used, but I agree with South Park on the subject of that word.
 
I only ever used to hear dyke from a lesbian friend of mine. She of course, said it jokingly.

No homo was always a joke phrase I thought?

And yeah, so gay has pretty much meant 'stupid' for a long time now.

Not a fan of the F word though, even if it isn't meant to be hurtful.
 
I still use "gay". It's like "retarded" - part of the vernacular.

That said, I have the tact to not use those words in instances where they would be deemed offensive. To me, there's a difference between common courtesy and censoring oneself.
 
I always found "no homo" not offensive but the height of insecurity. Like "oh god, I can't let them think I'm GAY because I said he has a cool hat!".
 
a casual homophobe is someone who primarily spout their obscenities on their mobile phones or on facebook.
hardcore homophobes are homophobic on all platforms, the pc, xbox, wii, it doesnt matter, they do it all.
 
Switters said:
I'm not sure what they hope to accomplish by this, other than to hold up a mirror to twitter.
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There's two main ways that I see it as useful:

- To make a spectacle out of homophobia. To help people realize the breadth in which it is still pervasive.

- To help draw connections between language and homophobia. The fact that there's already people in this thread who think saying "that's so gay" isn't based in homophobia shows how necessary this still is. Hopefully people will learn, or think twice at the very least.
 
Darklord said:
I always found "no homo" not offensive but the height of insecurity. Like "oh god, I can't let them think I'm GAY because I said he has a cool hat!".
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Yeah, it seems defensive, calling attention to one's preoccupation with possibly being considered gay. Then again, I was off the playground by the time it gained popularity, so maybe I just don't get the intended tone.

The site itself is pretty fascinating, though. Watching a flood of ignorance wash over the page is both mesmerizing and depressing.
 
Darklord said:
I always found "no homo" not offensive but the height of insecurity. Like "oh god, I can't let them think I'm GAY because I said he has a cool hat!".
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But it's usually said as such as joke. Like I never hear someone trying to convince someone else they are not gay by saying "no homo". It's just something you say as a joke.
 
out0v0rder said:
a casual homophobe is someone who primarily spout their obscenities on their mobile phones or on facebook.
hardcore homophobes are homophobic on all platforms, the pc, xbox, wii, it doesnt matter, they do it all.
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Wait, so if I say "That's gay" I'm a homophobe now?
 
"No homo" isn't really derogatory toward gay people. Its just a clarification that one's statement is not meant to be taken as a romantic or sexual advance.
 
Gay is so established as just generic word for dumb or lame that you can't say it's homophobia when kids use it. Most the time I'd imagine it's ignorance rather than malicious.
 
Kwixotik said:
"No homo" isn't really derogatory toward gay people. Its just a clarification that one's statement is not meant to be taken as a romantic or sexual advance.
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Or someone reinforcing that being gay is a bad thing, and they gotta make sure everyone knows they aren't gay.
 
TheGreatDivide said:
Gay is so established as just generic word for dumb or lame that you can't say it's homophobia when kids use it. Most the time I'd imagine it's ignorance rather than malicious.
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Of course, but realistically the majority of these people with Twitter accounts are over 12, and have begun to understand the implications of language and how it relates to context and one's outward appearance.
 
Kwixotik said:
"No homo" isn't really derogatory toward gay people. Its just a clarification that one's statement is not meant to be taken as a romantic or sexual advance.
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Yes, but it has the word "homo," which usually is derogatory.
 
Ferrio said:
Or someone reinforcing that being gay is a bad thing, and they gotta make sure everyone knows they aren't gay.
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How does the phrase imply that being gay is a bad thing? It's a clarification of intent. I don't even use it, I just don't think it's a big deal when others do. I do take issue with people saying "that's gay" when they don't like something, because that phrase is used in a way that stigmatizes homosexuality.
 
I understand how "no homo" could be taken as offensive, but I honestly don't think I've ever heard it used in a straight (heh) faced manner. It's almost always said ironically or by gay friends teasing straight friends when they say something that could be construed as "gay".

Then again, anecdotal evidence isn't really fair game when discussing this thing, so I dunno.

Also, guys, I don't think the site is saying that you shouldn't say words ever. It's just meant to be a counter.

Homophobic language isn’t always meant to be hurtful,
but how often do we use it without thinking?
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Deified Data said:
I still use "gay". It's like "retarded" - part of the vernacular.

That said, I have the tact to not use those words in instances where they would be deemed offensive. To me, there's a difference between common courtesy and censoring oneself.
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A friend of mine told me that he would say it in any instance except for when I'm in the room, coz he doesn't want to offend me.

I tell him that there are other gay people too.
 
Kwixotik said:
How does the phrase imply that being gay is a bad thing? It's a clarification of intent. I don't even use it, I just don't think it's a big deal when others do. I do take issue with people saying "that's gay" when they don't like something, because that phrase is used in a way that stigmatizes homosexuality.
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Just playing devil's advocate.

I think the website is stupid personally, I don't think being politically incorrect = homophobia.
 
Ferrio said:
Wait, so if I say "That's gay" I'm a homophobe now?
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i dont know, i just failed at making a joke about "hardcore" and "casual" by trying to make it sound like gaming markets.
ya know, like casual gamers only play iphone games or facebook games while hardcore gamers will play all platforms.
 
Green Scar said:
So did I! Until I realised using that term as a general pejorative is really fucking bad, and makes me look like the biggest wanker in whatever room I'm in.
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In context...I'm sitting alone in my room. I'm coming off of a 2-hour play session and I'm about to save when the power cuts out.

Me (to myself): "Gay."

I'll use retarded just about anywhere, though, I guess.
 
BigJiantRobut said:
I understand how "no homo" could be taken as offensive, but I honestly don't think I've ever heard it used in a straight (heh) faced manner. It's almost always said ironically or by gay friends teasing straight friends when they say something that could be construed as "gay".

Then again, anecdotal evidence isn't really fair game when discussing this thing, so I dunno.

Also, guys, I don't think the site is saying that you shouldn't say words ever.
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Same in my case. Though I suppose I don't see anything wrong about being offended by the use of words.
 
TheGreatDivide said:
Gay is so established as just generic word for dumb or lame that you can't say it's homophobia when kids use it. Most the time I'd imagine it's ignorance rather than malicious.
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This is true as most children will learn these words quite young. When I was in preschool, I had a kid tell me that all the black legos were called jiggaboos. I must have called them that for years before learning what it actually referred to.

I wonder if F***** will ever take on the same taboo as N*****? I don't mean in scope or scale, but something you would be very careful about saying.
 
Switters said:
I wonder if F***** will ever take on the same taboo as N*****? I don't mean in scope or scale, but something you would be very careful about saying.
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I hope so, gay slurs don't annoy me but that word is pretty ugly and you can feel the aggressiveness in it. Unlike queer or whatever.
 
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