Is Homosexual a Four-Letter Word?

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-11 16:12:00 UTC
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CursingIs the word homosexual offensive, or does it dredge up negative connotations?

If a new poll is to be believed, the answer is a pretty resounding "yes." CBS and the New York Times ran a poll this week asking readers two different, though ultimately very similar, questions. The first question?

"Do you favor gay men & lesbians serving in the military?"

"Do you favor or oppose gay men & lesbians serving in the military?" (Ed. Note: Question corrected from CBS/NY Times poll)

About 60 percent of the respondents answering that question agreed, saying that there should be no reason for blocking openly gay men and women from joining the military. Cool numbers, indeed, but wait 'til you see what happens when respondents are asked a second question.

"Do you favor or oppose homosexuals from serving in the military?"

You might think the answers would be the same. But they're not. Not by a long shot.

Turns out that by changing the phrase "gays & lesbians" to "homosexuals," support for integrating the military goes down. Way down. According to the poll, only 44 percent favor allowing openly "homosexual" people serve in the military -- a near 15 percent drop from those who said they'd be cool with gays and lesbians serving.

Is it time, as George Lakoff might say, to stop thinking like an elephant when it comes to rhetoric?

According to some folks, like AmericaBlog's John Aravosis, yup, it sure is. Aravosis says that this survey should confirm that "homosexual" has become a dirty word, one that conjures negative meanings and is all-too-frequently used by right-wing activists to demonize or paint LGBT people with scary brush strokes.

"Homosexual is a nasty, clinical-sounding word with nasty connotations for far too many Americans," writes Aravosis, letting his feelings be known so strongly that he uses the word nasty twice in the same sentence. "It's what I've argued for years, and have been routinely beaten up by some in the gay community who claim I'm nuts -- namely, that no one should use this offensive word and we should correct anyone who does."

Well, we won't be doing any beating up over here, but is Aravosis right? Is homosexual so clinical sounding that it makes people think inhuman?

It's true that opponents of gay rights certainly like to get their homosexual rhetoric on when it comes to describing the LGBT community. Whether it's describing homosexual marriage or homosexual activists, or even changing the name of an Olympic athlete to Tyson Homosexual, the right-wing certainly sees something about the word that rings music to the ears of their base.

How 'bout it: Is it time we stop using the word homosexual altogether?

Photo credit: Katie Tegtmeyer

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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