'Gay' vs. 'Retarded' and suspensions

[Flash]

You never say something is gay to someone who is really gay. Just like you don't say handicapped people are retards. You call your friends retards when they're doing something retarded.

Calling someone Gay is a perjorative. It fits into sterotypes about macho, manliness and that gay males are somehow less than men. They are sub-male. It is a derogatory slur. When you consider the discrimination and hate homsexuals have experienced then it is easy to see how that goes over the line.

As far as retarded, it is in poor taste and not very nice, but it isn't the same. Calling someone retarded is another way to call them stupid. Not very classy and articulate, but it is hardly a slur. It is just mean to retarded people.

And by the way when you call someone retarded, the defense is just like a libel defense, truth is an absolute.

Your logic isn't working with me. People who are homosexual are gay. Isn't that a commonly accepted term? Otherwise there wouldn't be GALA ... But used in certain contexts, it can be a pejorative, implying an effeminate character or action.
The word 'retarded' was formerly used to describe people who are developmentally delayed, presumably dumber than the rest of us. In most contexts now, it is a pejorative.
Calling someone 'retarded' is far more politically incorrect in my books than saying 'that's so gay.'

 

[Crimson Tide]

In the shop, under extreme duress, we have once or twice thrown out a "forktard." 'Tis a harsh word we don't use lightly.

(Technically, a portmanteau of the phrase "forking retard." Obviously. ;D )

 

[enigami]

Digressing on a conversational tangent while watching a football game, and staying professional in the heat of the moment, is probably easier said than done. They are professionals, however, and "gay" and "retarded" are unprofessional words, bottom line. Both guys realize that. There's no science to assessing suspensions for being insensitive. Still, ESPN is no doubt more afraid of getting heat from gay people than from retarded people, hence a disparity in punishment.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I don't know... I just get increasingly irritated by what people claim "offends" them...

One of the writers who who took an announcer to task for referring to Yao Ming as a "Chinaman" routinely refers to women as broods, benches and c-words... But he had the gall to act indignant over this? Give me a forking break...

Based on the shirt I hear in press boxes and press rooms and press row and in press rooms across the country, a comment better be Fuzzy Zoelleresque or Charlie Wardesque...

A sweeping comment about a religion or a race? Fine, people have a right to be pissed... Saying "That's a little gay." or "That's retarded" shouldn't register on that list. I'm not saying it's right, but it's also not worth freaking out over...

Most of the people who get indignant over this shirt are the biggest hypocrites on the planet.

 

[Ace]

One of the writers who who took an announcer to task for referring to Yao Ming as a "Chinaman" routinely refers to women as broods, benches and c-words... But he had the gall to act indignant over this? Give me a forking break...

The writer refers to women that way in print or on the air? My, that is bad.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Is there a difference between what you say in print, on the air and what you say privately?

Of course... It still makes you a hypocrite.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Still, ESPN is no doubt more afraid of getting heat from gay people than from retarded people, hence a disparity in punishment.

No comment

 

[Ace]

Is there a difference between what you say in print, on the air and what you say privately?

Of course... It still makes you a hypocrite.

Yeah, I'd say a whole buncha difference.

 

[Double J]

I don't know... I just get increasingly irritated by what people claim "offends" them...

One of the writers who who took an announcer to task for referring to Yao Ming as a "Chinaman" routinely refers to women as broods, benches and c-words... But he had the gall to act indignant over this? Give me a forking break...

"Hey, Howard, there's your Chinaman."

"Oh, thanks, Fred."

No more yankee his wankee. The Donger need food!

 

[buckweaver]

A sweeping comment about a religion or a race? Fine, people have a right to be pissed... Saying "That's a little gay." or "That's retarded" shouldn't register on that list. I'm not saying it's right, but it's also not worth freaking out over...

So religion- or race-bashing is taboo, but sexual orientation is acceptable? That's a pretty weak argument.

I'm not going to get offended, necessarily, by someone who uses the phrase "That's so gay." I'm just going to think you don't know any better.

And if you're an even remotely educated person but you don't have the vocabulary to say something that more accurately expresses how you feel instead of "that's so gay", it's going to be hard for me to take what you have to say very seriously anyway.

Even if it's not offensive, it's lazy.

It doesn't take much to stop saying it. Just, you know, stop saying it.

 

[zagoshe]

Sexual Orientation? I didn't realize Asian people were all also homosexual.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

If you're offended by someone saying, "That's a little gay..." then you've got problems...

Is it a stupid thing to say? Yes.

If he calls the quarterback a sperm-gurgling turd burglar, I could see people taking issue with it...