The current usage was food for thought in a 2020 essay for The Guardian. Faggot to You, a phrase also used as part of the title in his 2015 follow-up. Similarly, writer Michael Thomas Ford called his 1999 collection of essays on gay life That’s Mr. Way back in 1978, in fact, the late writer and activist Larry Kramer named his first novel Faggots, in an endearing sort of way. Yes, and that’s strictly among LGBTQ people, many of whom have playfully reclaimed the slur - along with “d*ke” (even through actual legal channels), “queer,” “homo” and other terms on the general population’s do-not-use list. Considering the long and violent history of the word, it’s important for people to understand its meaning before they use it so carelessly.”ĭamon is far from the first celebrity to get in trouble for using the term, by the way: Brett Ratner, Nash Grier, 50 Cent, Isaiah Washington, Alec Baldwin, Jonah Hill, Azealia Banks and Amanda Bynes are among those who have tossed around the slur, according to an Advocate roundup - as has Eminem, not to mention the late Kobe Bryant, who, back in 2011, was fined $100,000 by the NBA for slinging the slur at a referee.Īre there any exceptions when it comes to using the F-word? Since many people are biased against LGBT people, being called is a big fear of many heterosexual men, and thus the easiest way to hurt them.
In fact, it continues, “'faggot' has become a general insult that is often used to humiliate any man. Then, throughout that century, the F-word “became the slur most commonly used to abuse gay men and men perceived to be gay. In the early 20th century, the explainer continues, the word made its way to the United States, where it became a way to refer to men who were seen as less masculine than they “should” have been. Unfortunately, the term quickly became a sexist insult, as people used it to disrespect women in the same way the term ‘ball and chain’ is used today.” Since it was hard to live with such a bad reputation, people began to use the word…to refer to anything that was considered to be a burden or difficult to bear. Heretics who changed their beliefs to avoid being killed were forced to wear a ‘faggot’ design embroidered on their sleeve, to show everyone that they had opposed the Church. Heretics were required to gather bundles of sticks (‘faggots’) and carry them to the fire that was being built for them. “During the European Inquisitions, ‘faggot’ referred to the sticks used to set fires for burning heretics, or people who opposed the teachings of the Catholic Church. I said, ‘I retire the f-slur!’ I understood.”ĭespite Damon's latest statement, it can't hurt to review the meaning of the slur at the center of the story.
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I said, ‘Come on, that’s a joke! I say it in the movie Stuck on You!’ She went to her room and wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous.
“I made a joke, months ago, and got a treatise from my daughter. In Sunday's story, Damon had noted, “The word that my daughter calls the ‘f-slur for a homosexual’ was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application,” Damon told the U.K. "There needs to be accountability at a time when anti-LGBTQ slurs remain rampant today and can fuel discrimination and stereotypes, especially when used by those outside of the community to defame or describe LGBTQ people.” “The conversations that have arisen after Matt Damon’s original interview and subsequent remarks today are an important reminder that this word, or any word that aims to disparage and disrespect LGBTQ people, has no place in mainstream media, social media, classrooms, workplaces and beyond," Anthony Allen Ramos, GLAAD's head of talent, said in a statement on Monday evening. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.