“Political correctness is a concept invented by hard-rightwing forces to defend their right to be racist, to treat women in a degrading way and to be truly vile about gay people. They invent this idea of people who are politically correct, with a rigid, monstrous attitude to life so they can attack. But we have all had to learn to modify our language. That's all part of being a decent human being.” PeopleWayHumansIdeasHardPoliticalLanguageForceHuman BeingsAttitudeGayConceptsTreatsDecentRacistMonstrousPolitical CorrectnessGay PeopleCorrectnessPolitically CorrectDegrading Author:Clare Short
“It doesnt matter if youre black, white, gay, straight, come from different countries, different language... every single person is significant and is meaningful.” IfsPersonsDifferentCountryMatterLanguageBlackWhiteGayMeaningfulSignificantSingle PersonDifferent CountriesBlack WhiteDifferent Languages Author:Michael Franti
“And I found out about the wonderful world of sign language. I suddenly realized: If we as a society recognize Jewish culture, gay culture and Latino culture, we must recognize that this is a coherent culture, too. I think deafness is a disability for social constructionist reasons.” IfsThinkingWorldReasonCultureFoundLanguageSocialWonderfulGayDisabilityLatinoDeafnessSign LanguageWonderful WorldJewish CultureGay CultureLatino Culture Author:Andrew Solomon
“To stop challenging someone from using anti-gay language simply because they persist in using anti-gay language strikes me as a defeatist approach.” LanguageChallengesGayApproachStrikesPersistAnti Gay Author:Mallory Ortberg
“People that are much younger in areas that are much more, kind of, disenfranchised, I guess, as far as the gay movement goes, they still have a language that they've discovered around things. And they have a vocabulary to use, and they have a way to express themselves even when they're not accepted.” PeopleWayKindStillsUseLanguageMovementGayAreasAcceptedVocabularyDisenfranchised Author:Amy Ray
“For them [LGBT group], language has to say exactly what it means. "Why aren't you proud of being gay?" they wanted to know. "Why are you so dark? Why are you so morbid? Why are you so sad? Don't you realize, we're all okay? Let's celebrate that fact." But that is not what writers do. We don't celebrate being "okay." If you want to be okay, take an aspirin.” IfsKnowsWantMeanFactsWantedLanguageRealizingDarkGroupsProudGayOkayCelebrateLgbtMorbidBeing GaySo SadAspirinBeing Okay Author:Richard Rodriguez
“It's very easy, when things like the gay marriage write-in happen, to get sick of how people view language and say, "ah, come on it's just a dictionary." But then you hear from people who say if you take out "retarded" it won't exist anymore, and there will be no slurs for people to call my child. And that's just heartrending.” PeopleChildrenLanguageEasyGaySickMy ChildrenGay MarriageDictionaryRetarded Author:Kory Stamper
“I think in Arabic at times, but when I'm writing it's all in English. And I don't try to make my English sound more Arabic, because it would be phony - I'm imagining Melanie Griffith trying to do a German accent in Shining Through. It just wouldn't work. But the language in my head is a specific kind of English. It's not exactly American, not exactly British. Because everything is filtered through me, through my experience. I'm Lebanese, but not that much. American, but not that much. Gay, but not that much. The only thing I'm sure of, really, is that I'm under 5'7".” ThinkingWritingTryingKindLanguageGayShiningPhony Author:Rabih Alameddine
“The English language has about 450,000 commonly used words, but more may be needed. What to you call someone who has lost a sibling or had a miscarriage? Or a gay person whose partner has died? Or an elderly person who has lost every friend and relative? So many heartaches can't be found in the dictionary.” MayPersonsUsedFoundLostLanguageNeededGayDiedPartnersHeartacheGrievingRelativeEnglish LanguageElderlyDictionarySiblingMiscarriage Author:Jeffrey Zaslow
“Let me speak frankly: separate but equal is a fraud. It is the language that tried to push Rosa Parks to the back of the bus. It is the motif that determined that black and white people could not possibly drink from the same water fountain, eat at the same table or use the same toilets.” PeopleUseSpeakLanguageBlackWaterWhiteDrinkGayEqualLet MeTablesDeterminedParksBusFraudBlack And WhiteFountainToiletsGay MarriageRosaMotifsWater FountainSeparate But Equal Author:David Lammy