We hate to do it, but weâve got to quote Alicia Silverstoneâs Clueless character and say âOld people can be so cute sweet!â*
Take, for example, Arizona-resident Norman Derouin, whoâs having some trouble with sexualized slang:
Call me of the older generation, but I remember a time when to be identified as gay was to be identified as a happy, outgoing guy. âLetâs Be Happy Letâs Be Gay Letâs Declare a Holidayâ was a popular song.
I feel disenfranchised. I cannot say in mixed company that I am feeling gay. I would get looks.
I have nothing against the people who are of that genetic disposition. But please, come up with another widely approved description!
Hmmm, âfaggotâ is probably out, as is the truncated âfagâ. Many people may find âPooftaâ objectionable and âbutt-fuckerâ far too crude. Weâve always been a fan of âhomo,â but have a feeling people wonât agree.
So, what does that leave us? Not much. Sorry, Mr. Derouin, youâre just going to have to come up with a new word for âhappy and outgoingâ. Howâs animated? What about gregarious? Oh, we know! Frolicsome! Thatâs very masculine.
How about we take this to the next level?
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*That hurt us more than it did you.
hisurfer
I’ve read this before, and a long time ago. I think he copied it from a Dear Abby letter from the mid 1970’s. Or maybe it was an Andy Rooney routine.
qjersey
Well even though some people in our communities don’t like to use the word “gay” because it is “white,” most of US agree to use this word, and don’t care what the non-queers think about us using it.
All words evolve over time, “gay ladies” used to mean prostitutes.
Patrik
The line is actually “Old people can be so SWEET!”
GET IT RIGHT!
chandler in lasvegas
“Older generation” my wide white ass. This guy is one of those closet cases that “never was defined by my sexuality” and now they want to find a word that describes them. How about Log Cabinette. He sounds like a classic “homosexual”. I had tons of friends that never came out, that lived through AIDS and now having so many of their friends taken by OLD AGE are now sitting home alone bitching like this guy. Get active and BECOME Gay you miserable fuck. There is still time.
key
“What’s it called when you’re Gay for someone of the opposite sex?”
HOMER SIMPSON
Maverick69
Instead of gay, I prefer bone-smuggler and the ones who like to bury them.
Lucas
I prefer the slangs of the British variety: bender, puffter, nob shiner, etc. đ
Jere
Is it that time of the year again? Yes, I believe some cranky old guy has poked his head out of his stucco-encased home to shake his fist at those crazy kids and whine about how things just aren’t they were back in the good old days. Why, next he’ll be complaining that music is too loud, nobody has proper manners, and he hasn’t received a hand-written letter in ages. He did, however, get an email from his grandson full of ridiculous and lazy spelling errors such as “LOL” and “WTF” and “ROTFLMAO.”
He thinks it’s all pretty queer… oh, dammit, we fucked that word up, too.
Why do we waste ink (or bandwidth) on stuff like this?
Paul Raposo
I’ve always liked “gearbox.”
oakling
It’s all deeply stupid: he can still use gay. Everyone still knows what it means in that context. If he gets funny looks, it’s up to him to explain or ignore them or whatever. We didn’t make anyone look at him funny; he’s not taking responsibility for his own feelings or for what he’s projecting onto the people around him. Just like all homophobes.
Bitch Republic
Those old people will be dead soon and everyone will have forgotten that gay ever meant anything else. đ
hells kitchen guy
Chandler: I think the point is that he’s a not-homphobic straight man who’s old enough to remember when “gay” meant something else, as in “The Gay Divorcee,” or “Gay Paree.”
sheesh, must be that time of the month for you!
Larry McD
I’m in my 60s and I can remember when, about 25 or 30 years ago, a slick-suited pompous Young Republican jerk (redundant?) managed to get an essay into TIME on exactly the same theme.
Maybe this old A-hole is the same guy, looking for a second act in his sadass life. If he’s not, I offer the same trade I offered then…. the day these guys agree that there’s only one meaning for pansy, fruit, nancy, queer, fairy, etc. etc. then AND ONLY THEN can they have gay back with a single “happy” meaning.
sugarsmack
I like when people add “a” to gay or queer and use it as a noun. That distinguishes it from the old adjective. He’s a queer. Are you a gay? That bar is full of queers. Gays in the military… ETC. It sounds funny and naive, in a nice way.
MIchael
I hate the word Queer personally, but, whatever you want to call yourself, more power to you. I am HUMAN!