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That's so gay - not okay!
Written by Kieran Bycroft
Friday, 05 February 2010 08:22
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Something annoyed me Thursday morning. Anyone who knows me would not think this an uncommon occurrence, but this made me angry. I was listening to Nova937’s Nathan & Nat with Shaun McManus as they were discussing the over-dramatisation of the third season of my favourite reality show So You Think You Can Dance Australia. I wasn’t getting defensive – in fact, I’m inclined to agree with their point of view. I’ve cried three times this week and I haven’t even broken a nail. But before throwing it over to the listeners to hear what they thought, Shaun McManus said he had banned it from being watched in his house, calling it the “gayest show” on TV. NOTE: I could be paraphrasing – I tried to make a note of the exact words but was stuck on the freeway manipulating a merge with a typical Chinese driver and a sudden swerve made me drop my iPhone. So in that respect, SYTYCD is a pretty gay show, but I’m sure that analogy was not what Shaun McManus had in mind Thursday morning. Most people wouldn’t see Mr McManus’s comment as a big deal. The phrase “that’s so gay” has made it into the Australian vernacular. It’s been bandied around in our schools for years, and now it’s making its way into our workplaces and our radios! But any readers who balked at me using the intentionally racist phrase “typical Chinese driver” will hopefully understand that the term “that’s so gay” vilifies homosexuals in the same way that phrase vilifies the Chinese. It is about time we realise that a statement like “that’s so gay” vilifies same-sex oriented people throughout the country. Every time a young boy or girl who is questioning their sexuality hears such statements, it takes them further away from accepting themselves. We’ve all been there! As Australians, we don’t accept racial vilification, so why is it OK for us to degrade homosexuality with this flippant insult? I am not accusing Shaun McManus or Nova937 of vilification. When I complained to Nova937’s Managing Director Gary Roberts, he raised a valid point that Shaun’s comment was not in the same league as John Laws’ comments in 2004, which were found to vilify homosexuals by the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal. I am sure McManus did not intend to vilify anyone, least of all his colleague Nathan Morris. But, as with sexual harassment, intent is irrelevant. The point is that someone was offended by his comment, and I am sure I am not the only one. After complaining to Gary Roberts and not being satisfied that I was being heard, I went into attack mode. I created the slogan THAT’S SO GAY? NO WAY! and was emailing a friend to create a logo when I discovered that the proposed domain name for my anarchic website was already taken. www.thatssogay.com.au is a website and foundation created by Daniel Witthaus. Daniel tours Australian schools, holding seminars and workshops and selling his book, Beyond ‘That’s So Gay’: Challenging Homophobia in Secondary Schools. I was excited and empowered to find that I’m not alone in being fed up with the overuse of this offensive term. But while I think it is important to discuss this phenomenon in our schools, I also think it’s about time we discussed it in the workplace and the adult sphere. Just like the terms “gook”,” nigger”, “boong” and “wog” I hope that one day the term “that’s so gay” is one that we mutter under our breaths in fear that we’ll be heard by a society that (at least on paper) rejects such vilification, rather than being thrown around on Perth radio by former footballers who should know better. For those playing at home, In August 2007 Laws was again embroiled in controversy after suggesting on-air that "Chinese drivers are probably the worst drivers on the face of the earth." I hope my intentional irony was more accessible than Laws’s claims that he is not racist.
Comments (13)
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If it was a pollie or a police officer or a judge saying this stuff I'd demand some action but when it's these pathetic talentless D grade neanderthals I really think starving them of oxygen (preferably literally) is the best approach. Writing about anything they say, even a well crafted attack such as yours, lends them some credibility.