Ann's comment was provoked by actor Isaiah Washington's "faggot" reference to his co-star on the TV show "Grey's Anatomy." The co-star is not just effeminate, but is genuinely homosexual. Ann was not complaining about someone being forced into rehab for calling an effeminate heterosexual man like Edwards a faggot, but for calling a genuine homosexual a faggot. So, Ann did not mean "effeminate."
This is the same BS they tried against the guy who used "niggardly".
No, it is not. The word "niggardly" is a perfectly legitimate non-derogatory word, with no negative racial connotations. The staffers in the D.C. mayor's office who were offended when a white aide used the word were apparently too stupid to understand what the word meant.
The vast majority of seventh graders know exactly what "faggot" means, know that it is derogatory, and know how much fun it can be to use the word to offend adults. Just the way Ann did.
I should have said "obscene" instead of "derogatory."