Posted on Advocate.com January 27, 2012 04:00:00 AM ET
Op-ed: The T-Word Hasn't Changed, We Have
The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Jake Finney responds to RuPaul and others and explains that the T-Word has always been inappropriate but few stood up for themselves.
By Jake Finney, op-ed contributor
http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/Oped_The_T_Word_Hasnt_Changed_We_Have/ (http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/Oped_The_T_Word_Hasnt_Changed_We_Have/)
There have been a few knockdown drag-out fights recently within the LGBTQ community over the use of the word "->-bleeped-<-," a confrontation that has become known as "->-bleeped-<-gate." On one side, trans activists and their allies contend that the T-word is a slur used to dehumanize trans people, while the other side, mostly gay men including drag queens, fire back with "it's just a joke," "don't be so sensitive/P.C." or my personal favorite "it's just a word."