It offends me, though I'm bisexual.

Yes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejCqgAKZ-M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Jf59TGxaU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpBYKOs3ys

No. I have started calling things 'straight' and 'breeder' and 'het' and it doesn't seem to bother them.

I would think so. I find it offensive even though I'm not gay.

Yeah I believe so. I blurted out a comment by accident one night when a bunch of us were watching a movie. It was stupid of me because I was just repeating a comment my old co-worker use to always say and it stuck in my head. He was bad influence and since then, I've never done it again.

maybe some people. i have a gay friend and HE says that all the time! sometimes i tell him to "knock it off!" lol

i hope not, cause i do it all the time, and im sick of the pc walkin on eggs shells about everything we say

For some, it does, for some, it doesn't. It depends on who you're dealing with.

Depends on who they are, what kind of relationship you have with them and if you meant it in jest or spite and if that was relayed. I kid with some friends who are gay and it's understood as innocent laughs.

I do not find it offensive but I do think of it as rather juvenile. Often when someone says, "that is so gay" I will answer with, "it doesn't look all that happy to me".

Its actually funny sometimes.... I heard a kid say "We don't get out of school for MLK day" His cool friend says "That's gay!"

Best answer to that is it varies from each person. I would say go ahead and try not to use the word "gay" in a negative way with things or people that either aren't gay or couldn't possibly have a sexuality. :P You wouldn't say something is so crippled! Its acceptable to say something is gay but completely the opposite for a lot of other things. Double standard much? Just play it safe and then you know no one gets offended instead of running the risk.

Not if their happy and....

My son and his friends say it all the time and I feel it is very offensive. They use it as a term meaning that something is stupid.

You can almost anything now days and someone will be offened, so if it comes to mind I will say it. I don't say it to offend on purpose but if someone takes offense - they can speak up.

I am all for making fun of everything and everyone and insulting things and people too, but calling something "gay" is WAY over used. it once meant something was lame in a way similar to the gay stereotype. EI: a dude prancing around, male with fassion obsession, guy worrying about which stars are going out, putting cloths on your dog, a powder blue prius (bonus for chihuahua on male drivers lap). now it is used as a blanket insult that I have heard applied to things as masculine as a rodeo (can't think of anything at the moment) if someone wants to mock someone for forgetting a birthday by saying "that's straight guy" I'll laugh, but when something is used as a blanket insult it becomes an indicator of the speakers intelligence just like the response "your mom" even in middle school that was weak

It seems to, but I don't think it should.

"When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that was so gay"), the word gay is pejorative. While retaining its other meanings, it has also acquired "a widespread current usage" amongst young people, as a general term of disparagement. This pejorative usage has its origins in the late 1970s. Beginning in the 1980s and especially in the late 1990s, the usage as a generic insult became common among young people. This usage of the word has been criticized as homophobic. A 2006 BBC ruling by the Board of Governors over the use of the word in this context by Chris Moyles on his Radio 1 show, "I don't want that one, it's gay," advises "caution on its use" for this reason: “ "The word ‘gay’, in addition to being used to mean ‘homosexual’ or ‘carefree’, was often now used to mean ‘lame’ or ‘rubbish’. This is a widespread current usage of the word amongst young people... The word 'gay' ... need not be offensive... or homophobic [...] The governors said, however, that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage. [...] The committee... was "familiar with hearing this word in this context." The governors believed that in describing a ring tone as 'gay', the DJ was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish', rather than 'homosexual'. [...] The panel acknowledged however that this use... in a derogatory sense... could cause offence in some listeners, and counselled caution on its use. ” —BBC Board of Governors, The BBC's ruling was heavily criticised by the Minister for Childen, Kevin Brennan, who stated in response that "the casual use of homophobic language by mainstream radio DJs" is: “ "too often seen as harmless banter instead of the offensive insult that it really represents. [...] To ignore this problem is to collude in it. The blind eye to casual name-calling, looking the other way because it is the easy option, is simply intolerable." ” —Tony Grew, Shortly after the Moyles incident a campaign against homophobia was launched in Britain under the slogan "homophobia is gay", playing on the double meaning of the word "gay" in youth culture. In an attempt to avoid being offensive when used non-sexually, the word is sometimes spelled as "ghey."" Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage

does not offend me as long as it is in a joking manner

I try not to say it for, the fear of offending another. Does it offend me not really but, I don't what offends others. I do think when people say that they sound foolish.

I don't think saying something is gay offends gay people but I do think that saying something is gay is not the nicest thing to say.

Well, I'm bi, so I guess I halfway don't count as gay, but it's never offended me. However, I try to not say it too much because I can see how someone might find it offensive (even just on principle).

My gay friends have all told me that they don't get offended when I say it, but that could also be because they know I don't mean it offensively. If someone who doesn't like gays said it, it could take on a different meaning.

No...not as far as I'm concerned. Those who want to be hateful, aren't usually about to use the word "gay". They usually go for words that are meant to hurt...'n, today, "gay" doesn't do it! We've learned how to deal with the latter AHs. "Gays" are hilarious, with a natural wit, 'n they'll rip ya apart just using that "Z" finger...which is, like, soooooooooooooooooo "gay"! :-) Get over it, folks...most of US have. :-)

the key here is any given person's personality. I personally do not take it offensively. But at the same time I am jewish, polish, and irish, and when people make jokes about the poles, or the holocaust, or jews in general, or the irish I still don't get offended. I personally am someone where the only thing you could say to me to really make me mad is to make fun of my brothers or parents. Others however do take it personally, so I believe that discretion is still required.

i call things gay, well i used to say it a lot, and not once was it meant to be offensive. i didnt say it to be rude or homophobic. i am not i have a friend and we all think hes gay, altho hes still not admitted it. anyway i said 'well thats gay' in front of him and he looked hurt and he got a bit defensive. so i tried to make things sound better by saying 'what i mean by that it another way of saying weird or stupid' and he looked even more hurt which then i realised it sounded like i was calling gays weird or stupid, when i really wasnt!! anyway i tried to say the phrase less coz it could be found offensive, even when i meant the oppisite. i havent actally said that phrase for ages! i can see y he took it hurtfully. but i have a habit of making things worse lol i wouldnt be offended if some1 was saying thats so straight.

Let's find out. This question is "gay."

Not in the right company. Otherwise, I'd lay off.

If it does then that's a little gay.

Everything offends everybody, so I say, gay away!

Not really, but they are going to make as big a deal out of it as they can, just for the attention.

i actually dont think it makes any sence to say someting is gay like if something isn't fair and you say "thats gay" how could you refer to a situation as gay when its nothing to do with the meaning of the word. but im not gay so i dont kno...

i think its like a childs game kinda cause my little brother would say somethings gay just to make me laugh but not saying it in a bad way...

My manager is gay and I call things gay all the time infront of him, he just laughs.

Oh for fucks sake. Why should it? First of all, I am Gay, use it all the time, no big deal. In the context of calling something "gay" it usually means, "wow that is rubbish". On the same lines, when someone exclaims "shit!" it does not mean they have just found a turd on the floor. Even if it does offend people, well then sorry for them. Me throwing stones in the pond might offend people who care for water, but I am still going to do so as I have the right to. If people get offended becuase I call something gay, well tough luck. I live in a democratic country where we have the right of free speech, you have the right to express your offense just as I have the right to offend you.

If it does too bad as gay has meant happy all my life and that is longer than the word meaning the new meaning they have given it. i still use the word gay and have every right to. It means happy.

What a faggy question!

i usually use the word gay instead of shit and its never seemed to offend anyone.

I would NEVER say that something is Gay as a description to mean it's "bad" or "wrong". That just sucks. Interesting to read every ones answer though . +5

I am so bad about that, I call everything gay, and i also call people names like fagtits and shit like that. I have been told not to say it by a couple different gay guys before becuz they don't like it. But to be honest it shouldn't be offensive unless u mean it to be offensive to them. unless the person saying it is a homophobe, it shouldnt matter

my opinion is no

sometimes. unless you say "halle berry is soooo GAY!" then its like "boooyaaa look who's on OUR team!" beat that fool!

I always thought so, but I know a few gay people who aren't offended. Some even say it.

I think that it does, although other gay people may feel differently and might not mind. In general, I think if you take a word that is used to describe a group of people, and you use that word as a synonym for "bad" or "stupid" it's not unreasonable that some of the people in that group would take offense.

Ian gay and when ppl say something is gay doesn't offend me but when u say someone is gay that offends me

only if their skin is made of tissue paper.

Yes, as far as I can see it does.