this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2026
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Calling others gay or disabled as a slur.
Wanda Sykes did a PSA about this. It was put on YouTube 17 years ago. I don't know when it first aired.
https://youtu.be/sWS0GVOQPs0
Now I feel old...
I'm old enough that teachers referred to us as the "retarded kids" not to our face at least but when they thought we couldn't hear them.
By us I meant the learning disabled.
Also using it for situations of inconvenience. Eg, **The next train is cancelled.*" "That's fuckin gay!"
We had a campaign in Canada called "'That's so gay' is so yesterday" when I was in school. A lot of classrooms had stickers or posters with that quote. IDK how well it worked in general but definitely had an effect on me, especially since I was at an age where I didn't really understand what homosexuality even was, so one of my first exposures to the word was that it's not okay to use it as an insult.
Jew got used a lot in my area. It's horrible looking back and it got used in a lot of ways, one of the weirder uses was in football/soccer, where doing a sideways pass to a teammate for an easy goal was called 'jew-ing it'.
I grew up in the 90s, theses were used by everyone all the time. I still use these, even though I don't like to. Though, if any of an excuse, I don't use them to denigrate those disabled or homosexual.
"Retard" is used for any person or thing that is hard to work with, complex to use. Anything complex that takes up a lot time, not simple to use. My oven clock is "retarded" as it isn't intuitive when trying to set the time. I am "retarded" for not taking the time to pull out the manual and learn how to set it after the power goes out.
"Gay" is for anything or anyone that is dramatic, causing a situation or problem when there isn't one. For people who are overly sensitive, who take offense at "sub conscious facial micro aggression" of others.
I grew up beating up the bullies of disabled kids. When I got older, I became a lgtbq advocate and donated time\money to charity that supports them. Am I trying to excuse my behavior by still using these ....?....
Sure that's not just an age thing.you and your peers have outgrown?
Both is still in use by youths here, but just not by grown-ups.