Faust, i am very active in the LGBTQ community, and i've never heard anyone complain about the term "gays". also i don't think it's fair to include "gays" and "a gay" in the same category of offensiveness. "gays" and "blacks" are not generally used offensively-- they are used very often by people who are personally part of those demographics. like Velf said, they are convenient plurals. i would say the shift towards an accepting use of the terms is due to the constantly-changing nature of language. as collective mindsets change, the language of a culture changes also. words only have the power that you give them. that's why the gay community has worked over the years to change the term "queer" into not being offensive.

i am pansexual (gender-blind), having been in relationships with guys and girls and in-betweens. i have been called a dyke/lesbo/queer weirdo/greedy bisexual/deviant and all those other offensive and inaccurate things. i understand your concern about offensive language. i have a vested interest in such things-- however, i don't think it's fair to say someone DOESN'T have a vested interest just because they are not personally gay/lesbian/whatever. it's pretty apparent that SW here is largely liberal and that most of us do not ever intend to offend others with politically incorrect terms.

but yeah. i am way more offended by people saying "that's so gay" (using "gay" as a substitute for "stupid" or "bad") than i am by people saying "we must promote equal rights for all gays and lesbians". and it's definitely not just children who use "gay" in the negative sense; i most often see it used by college students and beyond. but yeah... i like Terrorantula's views on all this stuff.

debate thread lol

#saltw's slogan should be "girlchat; gaychat 24/7"

ran out of tissues?

Dada get some beard goin on too and we can remarry.

one of my best friends is both a short and a gay. You can fit him in your pocket. He's also a hippy.
Here's a picture of a drunken me.

r u a leftie?

man over the years i always thought dada was horribly ugly but now i guess he's very handsome?

i think the difference might be that train photo is the first one i've seen of him not taken by an awful webcam lit solely by the glow of the monitor

Scrolling down fast I thought that pic was atari

It does have his eyebrows...

edit: and rosy cheeks

my hair is signifcantly longer

I got a cool pic of me workin' on a boat, mounted on a big boat, thats being pulled by another boat. Can't upload it till I get back home though

i am skinny but with a slight breastial existence, and a pot belly though i am still skinny and don't understand. I am white and 6'1, with an elongated torso/arms. I have fluffy cloud-like hair and glasses. Sometimes i shave, sometimes stubble, sometimes a lazy beard. I tend to wear jeans and shirts and badly roughed up shoes which usually have paint on them. I also have a variety of jackets such as Soviet Army, black leather, brown leather, brown suit jacket (with ripped sleeve and paint on it), two black suit jackets and a cool RAF greatcoat like Captain Jack, which is a major hassel when clubbing!

Essentially I am the biggest stereotipical arty guy there is, which doubled with my pretentious taste in music... means I am a cunt.