User:Thomas.shapiro/gay lexicon

Reclaiming of Queer Lexicons
Heterosexism is a modern slang term refering to the hatred or loathing of queer people. For many years queer Lexicon terms such as Faggot, Dyke, mary, and queen have been used by the heterosexist movement as a means of inflicting emotional harm to queer people. The transition of defining queer terms The era of the Civil rights movement gave rise to the coining of phrases such as "Black is beautiful", as well as the frequent usage of derogatory phrases like "nigger" between African Americans as a term of endearment. Similarly, the queer movement has seen similar progressive ideas in a positive light that would generally be perceived as negative.

Usage of Terms
Fag: Jonny McGovern, an iconic gay male singer and performer from New York City has taken strides towards reclaiming many gay terms utilizing his song lyrics with titles including: "The wrong fag to fuck with", Dirty gay teen pop superstars", and "Something for the fellas (that like the fellas)"[] Queer: This word has essentially been reclaimed fully by the gay community, with televisions shows such as Queer As Folk and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy makes evident that society has become more open to the idea of the positive connotation of the word "Queer". Another reason for the push in adding "Queer" to the LGBT vocabulary being that people use the word "queer" because they do not want to run through the "alphabet soup" of different terms for people in the homosexual community ; it's an all-encompassing term for the homosexual community.

Different Movements
Today, many people have different takes on the proper way to approach the reclamation of LGBT lexicons

Opposition to reclamation on the basis of an inseparability in pejoration this view is based on the belief that the usage of any typically derogatory queer lexicon, can only be derogatory and hurtful. By attempting to reclaim the term it is only doing more damage to the people. that the word itself and its pejorative definition are interwoven. thus the term should be removed from our vocabularies altogether.

Reclamation supported on the basis of separability in pejoration The thought process behind this belief is that since the word is separable from its pejorative nature, thus using the term enough will theoretically remove the stigma of the term and potentially give it a positive connotation.

Reclamation supported despite the inseparability in Pejoration Because the word cannot lose its negative stigma, this movement seeks to use the word as a means of demonstrating its hurtful nature. thus making the term a taboo rather than a weapon used against the queer populace

Disputes Over the Idea of "Reclaiming Terminology"
While there is a great drive for reclaiming this terminology amongst the LGBT community, many still contend that one group's usage of the word cannot prevent another group from doing the same; simply because a gay man may use the word "faggot" in apositive way does not prevent a heterosexual person from doing likewise in a derogatory manner. The usage of gay lexicons such as "dyke" are frequently seen as being derogatory Contrary to that argument is the concept of fluidity of language: Over the years words have taken on a variety of meanings. Of the most prominent of these changes in meaning is the term "Nigger". routed from the portuguese word "negro" literally meaning black, Nigger came to be as a word used to oppress blacks. In present day society, the term "nigger" has come to have multiple definitions in addition to the initial hurtful one. These definitions are as follows: "1) close friend, backup 2) someone who is culturally Black 3) synonym for Blacks or African-Americans 4) African American women’s term for the Black man as lover/partner/significant other 5) rebellious, fearless, unconventional, in-yo-face Black man 6) derogatory, similar to pejorative use by out-group 7) any cool, down person who is deeply rooted in hip hop culture"  "Nigger" as well as many other oppressive terms, including those of the LGBT community, has the ability to transform itself from being a word used to hurt into a term that symbolizes close bonds between a group of people.