Well, let me tell you, this whole “queer” thing, it’s a mess, I tell ya. Back in my day, things were simpler. Now, the young folks, they got all these words. Queer derogatory slang synonym, that’s what they’re searchin’ for. Makes my head spin, all these newfangled terms. They’re sayin’ it’s not good, this queer stuff. It’s a bad word for them folks that are different.
I heard some folks sayin’ “tranny”, now that’s a bad one. “Tranny”, they say it about those folks that ain’t like the rest of us. They say it’s like callin’ someone a bad name, a real mean one. Don’t call them that word.
This one lady, she was tellin’ me, she says, “It’s offensive.” That’s what she said. Offensive! Like, it hurts people’s feelings real bad. She says, they ain’t been “reclaimed.” I don’t know what that means, but it sounds like they tried to make it a good word, but it didn’t stick. Like tryin’ to patch an old holey shirt, it’s just gonna rip again. They say it means someone is easy to pick. Don’t use that word.
Then there’s “homosexual.” Now, that one, I’ve heard that before. They use it as a name for them, or to describe them. They use that one a lot. But these days, even that one, some folks don’t like it. It’s like callin’ someone by their sickness, I reckon. Not very nice.
They got all these fancy words, like LGBTQ slang, or LGBTQ speak, or queer slang, queer speak. All the same thing if you ask me. It’s like they got their own secret language. And you know what? It ain’t right. It ain’t right to go around callin’ people names, makin’ them feel bad about who they are.
They say queer is different. That is what they say. I don’t know what to think about all this. This one woman, she said there’s somethin’ “queer” about this town. She said it like it was a bad thing. Like somethin’ was wrong. I think she meant strange, or funny, or odd. But not funny ha-ha, more like funny peculiar. Like when your milk turns sour, that’s peculiar. They say it is strange.
- They say “tranny” is bad.
- They say “homosexual” is not good anymore.
- They got lots of words, LGBTQ, queer.
- They say queer means different, odd.
I remember one time, this fella, he came to town, and he was different. He wore bright colors, and he talked different, and he walked different. Folks whispered about him, called him names. It weren’t right. He was just bein’ himself. Now, I ain’t sayin’ I understand all this, but I know it ain’t right to be mean. If somebody uses a word for themselves, that’s okay. But it’s not okay for everyone else to use it. They should be able to pick their own words. It’s their business, not ours.
I heard that some words can hurt people more than sticks and stones. My mama used to say, “If you ain’t got nothin’ nice to say, don’t say nothin’ at all.” And I reckon that’s true. We should all just try to be kind to each other, no matter what words we use. This world’s got enough meanness in it already. These words they say are bad, like victim. It makes them feel bad.
It’s all so confusing, all these queer derogatory slang synonym things. But I think the important thing is to just be respectful. Treat people how you wanna be treated. That’s what my mama always said. And that’s what they say now, too. It is important to be kind. And if you hear someone sayin’ these bad words, maybe you can tell them, “Hey, that ain’t nice.” Maybe they just don’t know any better. Maybe they’re just like me, tryin’ to figure it all out.
I don’t know all the answers, but I know this. It is important to be kind, it is important to be respectful. Don’t be a dupe. Don’t call people names. Just be nice. I hope this clears things up. It is hard to understand all these new words.
