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Taking a bite out of intolerance
By tom | July 17, 2007
Ever heard the phrase, “Only you can prevent forest fires?” Most
people attribute the line to Smokey the Bear and his plea for humans
to be responsible individuals, but in reality, Smokey didn’t come up
with it. How about “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” or “Friends
don’t let friends drive drunk”? Perhaps McGruff the Dog “taking a bite
out of crime!”
I grew up with these iconic phrases and never realized that they are
all connected. They stem from the 60-year efforts of an organization
called the Ad Council.
The Ad Council is a non-profit, privately funded organization that
distributes PSA’s working with sponsors and special interest groups to
educate America on special issues. The rarely produce the ads
themselves, merely team with an advertising agency who takes over the
creative side of the campaign and delivers a shiny, golden advertising
egg.
Well, are you ready for the next hit slogan? It might go something
like: “That’s so NOT gay!”
The Ad Council is partnering with GLSEN (the Gay Lesbian Straight
Education Network) to “combat anti-gay language and harassment in
schools,” (Michael Wilke, AP). Based on recent GLSEN research, 89.2%
of elementary school students attest to hearing the phrase “That’s so
gay” used on a daily basis. University was not much different for me.
The harmless phrase has become a definitive parallel to something that
is stupid, messed up, ‘wack,’ or unfair, all carrying a negative
connotation. This negative reinforcement of the word ‘gay’ is what
the Ad Council and GLSEN will tackle.
Research indicated something very interesting, which got GLSEN’s
attention: 50% of 13-year-olds consider themselves ‘neutral’ on LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) issues. 34% call themselves
supportive, and 13% say they don’t like gay people at all. The new
campaign is going after that 50% neutral demographic.
Its interesting – before I ‘came out’ I used the slang often. Even
afterwards, it was still imprinted into my speech and work its way
into conversation from time to time. Once my friends knew of my
sexual orientation, any time the phrase was uttered, half the group
would snicker at the intended meaning, while others would nervously
shift their gaze to me, to gauge my reaction before allowing
themselves a laugh.
I’ve never been bothered by it directly - it doesn’t hurt my feelings; but the phrase doesn’t make sense! The only two meanings for the word ‘gay’ that are currently
understood are: homosexual (the popular meaning of the era) and happy
(which fell by the wayside 40 years ago).
Now, no one is actually saying “Man, that test was so homosexual!” or
“That movie was so happy!” No…anytime the word ‘gay’ is used in that
phrase, it could be substituted with ‘bad’ and still retain the same
meaning and continues to reinforce negative feelings, emotions, and opinions about homosexuals.
Finally, when the majority of people are coming to the understanding that homosexuals are people, too, void of unique mental illnesses, this phrase still lingers, reinforcing prejudices and bigotry.
I applaud someone for waking up in the middle of the night and saying,
“We should stop saying ‘that’s so gay.’” Education never hurt anyone,
and if this campaign can work towards removing some of the
intolerances that are rampant in our society, I’m all for it. I just
hope the ad campaign isn’t an animated drag queen, shaking her boa of
feathers, and lip-syncing “I will survive!” That would just be….gay.
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