Ann Coulter calls John Edwards 'fag-ot'

Wow. If the GOP is applauding for that, they truly are America's anus.

Sorry but your wrong the word is English slang for homosexual. It has no other meaning. If you use it to mean something else you are mis-using the English language.

How is that any different than using the N word?

This video isn't about gay men. Wake up America!

So why should I stand for any use of the word at all? You know, it's quite telling that this trend is only happening to pejorative words that describe gay men (homo, fag, gay). When you say "that's so gay", it's because you are saying that something is bad, stupid, ugly, etc. You are therefore associating all of these negative traits with being gay. Or in the case of 'faggot', you are perpetuating untrue stereotypes about gay men. Either way you are subconsciously spreading homophobia.

So if I call someone a shitty person am I associating negative traits with the entire human race? Am I saying that all people are bad? What if I called someone "a nice gay guy"- thats okay isn't it? Untrue stereotypes? No, there are plenty of gay men who fit gay stereotypes. There wouldn't be a stereotype if it wasn't rampant in some quadrant. It's not fair to say that every one in an innocuous group is part of the stereotypical group. But it is fair to remark when someone does fit that type.

Calling someone a 'shitty person' only has a negative connotation because feces are viewed negatively.
The word gay is a polite term in general, and originated that way. I was referring to people who use it negatively. Ever heard the phrase "that's so gay"?

But stereotypes assume that these traits are true for all gay men. This is not the case, not even with a majority of gay men.

How are you aware of what the majority of gay men are like? Why do you think stereotypes exist if they don't reflect a good section of the majority? Calling someone a faggot only has a negative connotation because typical gay culture is often annoying to people. I don't think anyone would even notice if people purely felt attraction to their own gender and spoke normally, acted normal, etc.
Thanks for the discussion by the way.

As a gay person, I am speaking from my own experience. I am not someone who fits stereotypes about gay men, and most of the gay men I know don't either.

I believe that certain stereotypes exist because the gay men who do fit the stereotype are very overtly flamboyant and feminine. I don't think that there is anything bad about this, but they do attract a lot more attention because they are so different from societal expectations of how men should behave. Gay guys who are more "straight-acting" are generally not as easily identifiable as gay and therefore people don't associate their behavior with being gay.