'Homosexual' is banned (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD ALERT)

The Sun ^ | November 27, 2002 | DAVID WOODING

[MadIvan]

GAYS have had the word homosexual banned by the Government because they say it is offensive.

Ministers want it written out of their vocabulary after complaints that it was outdated.

Instead they will refer to those with an “orientation towards people of the same sex”.

Homosexual, coined 130 years ago, will be ditched under anti-discrimination laws drawn up by equality minister Barbara Roche.

Whitehall officials will be told not to use the term in official documents, speeches, press releases or white papers.

Last night a spokesman for Mrs Roche, 48, denied the move was political correctness.

He said: “There was a strong feeling that homosexual wasn’t the way forward in defining sexual orientation. There were various concerns.”

Gays’ objection to the word homosexual was revealed while mum-of-one Mrs Roche was doing a consultation exercise last year.

The paper, called Towards Equality and Diversity, contained the Government’s plans to tackle sexual and religious discrimination.

For decades homosexual was regarded as a non-discriminatory alternative to words like queer, fairy and poof.

But since gay took over as the most popular description in the 1960s, homosexual is seen by some as a term of abuse.

[constable tom]

Well that took you all of 3 minutes to post. I love this stimulus/response thing...

[The Real Deal]

Hmmm. How long before they consider it hate speech to use the word homosexual?

That's still better than "turd miner" or "f__kin'faggot".

[Jeff Chandler]

That's still better than "turd miner"

Wow! 21 minutes and it's part of the vocabulary.

[constable tom]

Dear God, please tell me someone else out there sees the humor in that John Cleese photo. If you can't have a sense of humor (sorry - humour) on a thread like this, you really should check yourself by breathing against a mirror.

Ivan and I can't be the only ones who remember the Ministry of Silly Walks bit, can we?

[constable tom]

Good - but I'm kind of partial to "turd burgler" myself. It has just the right larcenous connotation for my sense of humor.

[weegee]

Your definition of Banana will be permitted to stand but that definition for Car just won't suffice:

Cars will now be referred to as "multi-passenger mechanized conveyance".

Car - selfish mechanized conveyance designed to cause environmental impact and avoid mass transit.

[Stavka2]

Well what about the time honored: fudge packer, daisy, blue boy, d*ck-sucker, ball grabber....?

[Stavka2]

Oooh, oooh, wait: pillow biter....yeah, can't forget that one. :0)

[patriciaruth]

instead use the phrase "orientation towards people of the same sex" to define gays and lesbians.

Doesn't this discriminate against trees?

[Stavka2]

You're not, you're not. How can England, the land that brough us Monty Python and Benny Hill, have sunk so low into PC quagmires?

[Stavka2]

I had a friend of mine almost start a fight in front of me in a London steak house when the guy who had sat there before us asked him if he'd seen his faggots? T. jumped up and was ready to throw down, when I "humbly" interrupted him to inform him that the guy was looking for his cigarrets.

[Nitro]

So... if you call a c*ck-sucker...

a c*ck-sucker, is it an insult...

or a descriptive phrase???

[monkeyshine]

Me too. Homosexual sounds like a statement of fact, not a slur. But I learned the hard way when running for a seat on my university's student government some 11 years ago that it's a no-no. I met before the GLAAD group to seek their endorsement, and used the term homosexual in our talks. One guy corrected me, said that they prefer the word gay.

I didn't get their endorsement, but neither did anyone else.

[.45MAN]

Well once they bann the word all the problems will be over..

[Happygal]

orientation towards people of the same sex

Won't orienteers be offended? That's a bit wordy. Orientation Towards People Of The Same Sex = OTPOFTS. *L*

[.45MAN]

Stamping out the word homosexual.....

[MadIvan]

Won't orienteers be offended? That's a bit wordy. Orientation Towards People Of The Same Sex = OTPOFTS. *L*

It could create a backlash. If I have to worry about the word "homosexual" being offensive, I may just as well say "poofters". ;)

Love, Ivan

[Happygal]

What I find funny, is that the majority of gay men I know..prefer to be called gays over anything else. How many words do they want?

[FreedomPoster]

>>Ivan and I can't be the only ones who remember the Ministry of Silly Walks bit, can we?

My son has the t-shirt.

I think we should all settle on the classic "fudge-packer".