Final topic selection

The topic i have decided to do my final paper on is the history of slurs and derogatory terms used against the LGBTQ+ community and how those terms have been or are being reclaimed by the community. I chose this topic because as a trans gay male i have been called many of those terms and while i know a little bit about the origin of certain of those terms i would like to know more about it. I also wanted to talk about the reclamation of those terms because i found it interesting how people within the community took those derogatory words and started using it for themselves as a way of empowerment.

Fone, Byrne. “Homophobia A History”, Metropolitan Books Henry Holt and Company, 2000.

The book Homophobia a history contains the history and evolution of homophobia starting from homophobia in ancient athen to homophobia now. I will use this source for my first paragraph which will be on the history of homophobia.

Duberman, Martin. “Stonewall: The Definitive Story Of The LGBTQ Rights Uprising That Changed America”, Penguin Random House, 1993.

The book Stonewall, written by the renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the story of one of the most marking and moving moment in the American queer history : the stonewall riots and the first gay rights march. I will use this source for my first paragraph on the history of homophobia.

Brontsema, Robin. “A Queer Revolution: Reconceptualizing the Debate Over Linguistic Reclamation” University of Colorado Edu. Journals , Published by CU Scholar, 2004.

This source talks about the origin, meaning, history and reclamation of the word “queer”. I will use this source for my second and third paragraph, second paragraph being on the history and origin of some slurs and third being on the reclamation of those slurs

Vuolo, Mike, host. “A bundle of faggots” Lexicon Valley, Season 1 episode 2, published by the slate group, 13-02-2012 https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spectacular/lexicon-valley-2-a-bundle-of-E0eFr5oT8Mw/

This source talks about the history of the f slur, its meaning, its origin and how it is currently being reclaimed. I will use this source for my second and third paragraph, the second paragraph which is on the origin and history of some offensive terms and the third one which is on the reclamation of some of those terms.

Topic sentences and thesis statement

Thesis statement : Homophobia and transphobia has existed for centuries and still exists nowadays. Many terms have been created and used to degrade and dehumanize queer people. However, many of those terms are now being reclaimed by those affected by them : some have even already been fully reclaimed.

Topic sentences :

- Homophobia has been around for so long it already existed back in ancient athen. (paragraph about history of homophobia)

- There are many queerphobic slurs and they do not all mean the same thing or are targeted towards the same people within the community. (meaning and background on some slurs)

- The LGBTQ+ community is now trying to reclaim those derogatory terms as a way to oppose oppression ; some

[N/A]. “Slurs” Gender Construction Kit, Gender kit.org UK. publication date unknown. https://genderkit.org.uk/slurs/

This source talks about many offensive transphobic terms' meanings and their origin. I will use this source for my second paragraph on the origin and history of some slurs.

Cheves, Alexander. “21 Words the Queer Community Has Reclaimed (and Some We Haven't)” Advocate.com, 2019 https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2017/8/02/21-words-queer-community-has-reclaimed-and-some-we-havent#media-gallery-media-13

This source talks about homophobic slurs, which have been fully reclaimed and which has not. It debates wether or not some slurs should be reclaimed. I will use this source for my paragraph on slurs that have been reclaimed.

Kibirige, Hannah & Tryl, Luke. “Tackling Homophobic Language” Stonewall Education Guides, publication date unknown. https://www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/tackling_homophobic_language_-_teachers_guide.pdf

This source talks about homophobic language and their presence in high schools. I will use this source for my paragraph on the history of homophobia to show how it still is very present today.

LGBT Purge. “About LGBT Purge” LGBTPurge.com, 2019. https://lgbtpurge.com/about-lgbt-purge/

This source talks about queer history in canada and i will use it for my paragraph on queer history.

McNeill, John. “Misogyny and Homophobia” DignityUSA, 2022. https://www.dignityusa.org/article/misogyny-and-homophobia

This source talks about the link between misogyny and homophobia, i will use it for my second paragraph on the origin and history of some slurs to show how there link between misogyny and homophobic terms

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. “Definition of Slur” Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, last modification unknown. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/slur_2

This source defines what the word slurs means and i will use it in my introduction as background context

Sen, Mayukh. “How—and Why—Did Fruitcake Become a Slur ?” Food52, 2016, food52.com/blog/18732-how-and-why-did-fruitcake-become-a-slur.

This source talks about how fruit/fruity/fruitcake is used in a derogatory way against queer men and how it became a slur, i will use it on my paragraph about the history and origin of some slurs

Williamson, Harriet. “Misogyny and homophobia: patriarchy, gender policing, and the male gaze” openDemocracy, 2015 https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/misogyny-and-homophobia-patriarchy-gender-policing-and-male-gaze/

This source talks about the link between misogyny and homophobia, i will use it for my second paragraph on the origin and history of some slurs to show how there link between misogyny and homophobic terms

Homophobic Language : History of Homophobic Slurs and the Reclamation of Them

Homophobia and transphobia have existed for centuries and still exist nowadays. Many terms have been created and used to degrade and dehumanize queer people, terms which the LGBTQ community is now trying to reclaim, some even already having successfully been reclaimed. A lot of those terms are considered slurs, which the Oxford learner dictionary defines as “an offensive term used deliberately to show a lack of respect for a particular group of people”. In this research paper I will discuss the history of homophobia, the history and origin of some of those derogatory terms used against the queer community and some the terms which have been successfully reclaimed by queer people.

While the term “homophobia” in itself was only coined in the late 1960s, homophobia has been around for so long it already existed back in Ancient Athens (Fone, 10) . Homosexual activities were common and socially accepted during the early Greco-Roman era ; it wasnt until around 350 B.C.E when Plato wrote one of his most famous work Laws in which he argues that homosexuality is wrong and unnatural because the only legitimate purpose of sex is to produce children and so therefore homosexuality is wrong and is endangering the human race by being an obstacle to procreation (Fone, 75). From that point on in history, homosexuals became outcasts by society, being considered immoral and unnatural beings. Condemnation of homosexuality began appearing in a lot of religious texts and society developed an irrational fear of homosexuality which turned to hatred (Fone, 78). Homosexuality was considered a criminal act in Canada up until it was decriminalized in 1969 (LGBT Purge), same year as the stonewall riots which “mark[ed] the birth of of the modern gay and lesbian political movement” (Duberman, Preface). Because homophobia has been around for so long and gay rights have only started being fought fairly recently in history, it is still very much present in today’s society and is extremely present in our every day language ; “99 per cent of gay young people say that they hear phrases such as ‘that’s so gay’ and ‘you’re so gay’ in school and 96 per cent hear homophobic remarks such as ‘poof’ and ‘lezza’” (Kibirige & Tryl).

There are many queerphobic slurs and they do not all mean the same thing or are targeted towards the same people within the community. A lot of those slurs are rooted in misogyny because “there was and continues to be a profound connection between misogyny and homophobia in our culture” (McNeill). The most well known and commonly used against queer people is the word “Faggot”. The word “Faggot” did not appear in the English language until the late 1200s or early 1300s (Vuolo). Back when it was first used, the word, which was not yet used as a derogatory homophobic term, was used to describe “a bundle of sticks”. In the late 1500s, the word became a pejorative term used against women ; the Oxford English Dictionary described it as "a term of abuse or contempt applied to a woman". Nobody really knows why, but a theory advances that “gathering and carrying bundles of wood is burdensome and that men who have been married for a certain number of years may view their wives as a burden. So here faggot would be similar to "ball and chain." (Vuolo). The slur then started to be used against gay men around 100 years ago, as a way to insult men who are seen as “less manly” for being gay by calling them a pejorative term used against women. The term is now used against the whole community including lesbians, trans people, bisexuals, etc. and not just gay men (Vuolo). Another derogatory term commonly used against gay men is the word fruity/fruit. The association of the word fruit to homosexuality first began with a painting made in painting from 1593 by Caravaggio named “Boy with a Basket of Fruits” (Sen). The painting “shows a young man with his cheeks flush, draping white cloth falling from his shoulders, frame fragile as a sparrow’s” who is “clutching his basket of fruit like a queen would clutch her pearls.” (Sen) . British and eventually a bit later American queer men started using the word “fruit” as slang to refer to themselves around the 19th century in reference to the young man in the picture who is quite feminine just like how a lot of queer men are. However, over the next two centuries the word slowly got stolen by heterosexual people who began to use as a derogatory term, instead of being used by feminine queer men to embrace their feminity it was used against them as a way to shame them for their feminity (Sen). This shows how deeply rooted in misogyny homophobia is, queer men often being shamed for being feminine and “similar to women” which is looked down upon because of societal hatred for women who are seen as lesser beings (Williamson). A term that shares a similar history with the term fruity is the word “Tranny”, which was originally a term used by trans people to refer to themselves but that over the time got stolen by cisgender people and turned into an offensive slur used against the transgender community (GenderKit). There is currently a debate within the communication whether or not those previous terms should or should not be reclaimed : some think they have a right to reclaim those terms and turn them into empowering words while others think they have been used in a derogatory way for so long and carry so much trauma for the community that they are impossible to reclaim.

There are some terms that have successfully and almost unanimously been reclaimed by the LGBTQ community. The word queer, which had been used as a slur against the LGBTQ community starting from the late 1910s early 1920s (Brontsema). The word then slowly started being reclaimed by members of community to refer to themselves ; “The first instance of queer’s public reclamation came from Queer Nation, an off-spring of the AIDS activist group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP). Queer Nation was originally formed in 1990 in New York as a discussion group by several ACT-UP activists discontent with homophobia in AIDS activism and the invisibility of gays and lesbians within the movement” (Brontsema). Nowadays, the word is commonly used as an umbrella term used for the entire community and some people even use it as its own sexual or gender identity. Another term that used to be used in a derogatory way that has now been fully reclaimed is the word Queen. Very few know that the word used to be used in a pejorative way against queer men and the negative past of the word has been forgotten by the queer community long time ago. “Nowadays the word is the most widely known power term in our community, one that has made a significant social leap into mainstream pop culture” (Cheves).

In conclusion, homophobia has been around for so long that a long list of derogatory terms used against the queer community has been created. While some of those terms are still an extremely sensitive topic for many amongst the community and are still used in a derogatory way, a few of them have been reclaimed by queer people over the time. The evolution of homophobic slurs over history is a great example of how much words can evolves with time and i think it is very important for us to reclaim oppressive language and it’s our duty to give those words a better meaning so that it cannot be used against us anymore.

Final Video

https://youtu.be/MTEIVTkpRCs