Time to Stop Saying "Homosexual"

By Lauren Berry-Kagan

            “Do you favor or oppose permitting homosexuals to serve in the military?”

“What about gays and lesbians?”

 

Isn’t that the same question? Not really. It turns out that people support “gay and lesbian” rights far more than “homosexual rights.” A recent CBS/New York Times poll has provided us with actual proof of how words matter when it comes to people’s opinions and reactions. People responded mostly “oppose” to the first question, but mostly “favor” to the second.

Why do people have such an adverse reaction to the word “homosexual” that they don’t seem to have to the words “gay and lesbian?” For one, “homosexual” feels more cold and clinical. It also calls to mind the long history of viewing being queer as an illness. “Gay and lesbian” are much more casual. They also don’t have “sex” built into the words themselves. There’s nothing like sex to make people uncomfortable!

Some people say that “gay and lesbian” feel like words that the queer community has reclaimed, whereas “homosexual” is something psychologists pinned on them as a label.

Personally, I hate the word homosexual. It’s such a gross and clinical word—it sounds like a fatal condition. Who refers to their straight friends as heterosexual? It just doesn’t sound like an everyday word that real people use.

In general conversations, people should stop referring to other people as ‘homosexual’. It’s been proven to have negative connotations. If we use words to describe people that don’t make it sound like they have a gross disease, then I think we can have progress in gay rights. They way we talk about something shapes how we treat it. Use words that generate respect, not aversion!