Gay vs. Gay

When I first started blathering upon the very server space where this blog resides (i.e. my first blog entitled "First and Foremost") I threw the word gay around and I promised to come back to my defense of this word.

I'd like to start by stating that over the years I've had many gay friends and they've all been great people with whom I've regretfully lost touch with in most cases. People grow apart, they move, pick up drug habits, whatever. Shit just happens and there's often very little control involved. Fine, let's move on.

I personally like gay people. Back when I was single I was more likely to get checked out (or even approached...!) by a gay man than I was by a straight woman. And by the way, I'm a straight man who's been (mostly) happily married for nearly 2 years if this puts things into perspective for you. Regardless of whether a sasquatch of a woman checks me out or an absolutely fabulous gay man I'm always flattered. Acting on it isn't likely to happen but just knowing that just about anyone thinks of me that way is kind of nice even if it's not going to translate well to reality. But when what seems to be exclusively gay men give you the looks it gets a tad discouraging. Or it used to. But a friend pointed out that's the best compliment you can get because gay men have great taste.

Think about it. Gays bring up real estate values because one of the first things they tend to do is remodel the place. They're also snappy dressers. I'd let a gay man pick out my wardrobe if price was no object in a heartbeat. And they're generally into classic movies so they're okay in my book. Whatever they do behind closed doors is their business and if they want to adopt kids or get married I see no rational reason in the world why they shouldn't be allowed to do so.

So you're up (or down) with The Gays. What's the problem?

The problem is I love the word gay as an adjective at least. And not in the homosexual tense. When I use the word gay I don't mean it in the that show Queer as Folk is so gay sense.

I tend to use the word gay in what can be construed as more of a hateful way. And I don't even mean it to come out that way. I tend to use it in the more nonsensical, idiotic or stupid way. Like that Christmas episode of 30 Rock was really gay. There was actually nothing gay about it. I just found it anticlimactic and disappointing. (But then again there was too much singing for my taste.)

I've been using the word gay since maybe 3rd grade, 1983, or the age of 8. Maybe and probably earlier. I remember the little card pocket in the back of school library books had the company name Gaylord on it and we'd all laugh about it. I want to say that was 1st grade but I can't say for sure. So where the hell am I going with this? Oh, I've been using the word gay for over 25 years and I'm not likely to stop anytime soon. I know I'm not even using it in the correct context but a quarter century of habit is going to keep that correct usage from being used.

I know I can say nonsensical, idiotic or stupid but it's a battle. I got off retarded and I'll eventually get off gay. And this just isn't coming out right.

Cliffs Notes Edition--if you're offended by the misuse of the word gay or the occasional misuse of the word retarded don't read my blog or don't get offended. I'm just spewing the internal nonsense in my head into a blog and I don't bother with editing too much. Oh, and I hate political correctness...