According to a recent ruling by an appellate court in Albany, New York, the word "gay" is no longer considered slanderous in the State of New York when used to falsely accuse someone of sexual orientation.
What happened?
Somewhere along the line the word "gay" has morphed into meaning "stupid." And the court so ruled.
Gina Bellafante reporting for the NYTimes in "Gay or Stupid? One of These Is Still an Insult," gives us the background story on the global evolution of the word "gay" specifically into meaning "stupid." Excerpt.
"In arriving at its decision, the court erased decades of rulings that treated inaccurate descriptions of sexual orientation as defamation. “These appellate division decisions are inconsistent with current public policy and should no longer be followed,” the unanimous decision, written by Justice Thomas Mercure, stated.
What took so long?
While the decision clearly reflects the ideas and opinions of an increasingly enlightened citizenry, it might also be said to speak to the evolving etymology of the term gay itself. During the past two decades, American adolescent vernacular has broadened the definition far beyond implications of sexual orientation. In a circle of 13-year-olds, “That’s so gay!” might translate to: “Only ding-dongs go to the movies on Saturday when anyone who is anyone goes to the movies on Wednesdays.” It might be gay to wear Pumas in a place where Converse high-tops are the rage, or gay of a teacher to assign a 10-page essay on “Buddenbrooks” three days before Christmas.
Ten years ago, on an e-mail list dedicated to issues of linguistics, an extensive conversation got going over whether the word gay had morphed specifically into meaning “stupid.” The cumulative answer was, yes, it seemed so, and this was happening around the world, including in the United States."
I disagree with the court. It's too close a bridge from something defamatory to customary. Recall the kerfuffle about African Americans referring to each other using the "N" word. They argued that among the black population it worked. I blogged on this topic: "When Is A Slave Not a Nigger?"
It troubled me then and it troubles me now. Are we a country so short on language that we have to rehash a word for another purpose and then excuse its former negative image merely because it has become so used in the vernacular?
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