You Silly Sausage

I was talking with a group of friends a couple of nights ago.
One is a tree-hugging home-schooling crystal-gazing mother and she was saying how she had had to chastise her child for using the term 'gay' as in "That's so gay!".

He was a 10-year-old who'd heard it around and started using it, frankly in the same way that is used by a lot of adults, lots of comedians, and lots of gays with a gently humorous edge.
She chastised him for using homophobic language.

Homophobic V Gently humorous. Choose your poison. 

Because you're the one being judgemental. It wasn't the 10-year-old.

I suggested it wasn't homophobic but I was in a minority (one as usual)  because our other acquaintance agreed with her.
So I'm going to tell you why they are both wrong. I am not going to tell them, Believe me, I know a closed mind when I see one.

The only homophobic concept is coming from the adults.
The child didn't have any feelings of hatred towards homosexuals, or using the more traditional use of the word phobia, of fear either.

'I just thought it meant stupid', said the child.
I'm pretty sure if he thought it meant stupid, and it is frequently used in exactly that way, then his friends did as well. Even if I personally, (and perhaps you too, I don't know) might have a mild preference for the term "silly".

The disease of accusing people of being homophobic is a modern media friendly condition with very little upside.
Teaching it to children replaces that innocence with something that cannot fairly be described as educational. Particularly from a home-schooler. 

Please.

30 years ago the term gay was used to mean happy.
Currently it means homosexual.
Who's to say that if we don't poison the mind of the next-generation that in 30 years time, it may well mean happy again or silly, daft or something else. Would that be such a bad thing ?

We need to stop teaching hate. 

Hate is felt.

It might for example be felt towards the German nation for the millions of 

innocents they executed. But you don't need to teach the hate. Just teach the history. The hate will take care of itself.

If adults poison young minds with their own prejudices even inadvertently, they create traps from false materials. They make their children choose which side of the street to walk, whether they are pro-black or pro-white, whether they are pro-gay or pro-straight. It is a slow poison.
It is poor judgement.
It is wrong.

And over the weekend a primary school was reported as getting 3 years old to sign a contract against use of "transphobic" language.

I know a is for apple, b is for ball and c is for cat but is still feels like a million miles to transphobic. 

So let's talk about words, when you sell hate like these teachers were and mislabel it as tolerance, that is called hate-mongering or inciting hatred. But my arguing this, while accurate, is as useless as the propositon. It would not even lead to an interesting social discussion other than to inflame a few prejudiced vulnerables into becoming incandescent with faux rage.

Button it, teachers.

Leave those kids alone.

Now I'm feeling a bit gay today. I might go for a little walk, around the Catholic churchyard.
If you are available, you're invited to come and be a bit gay with me.

Go on.. what do you say?
Let's go and be gay together.