red lez

@red-lez

Plant Dyke and Aspiring Polyglot

she / her

I work on games, learn languages, and work with native plants when I get the chance. Avatar by Wolf / Isananika

red lez @red-lez9/21/2024, 7:19 PM

Shel @shel

Misty @dog9/20/2024, 7:44 PM

Probably the #1 thing I hope to impress on younger gay people is please don't use "gay panic" to mean something positive because it has a very specific extremely negative meaning that a lot of people are going to have an instant reaction to

Shel @shel9/20/2024, 8:07 PM

I keep encountering Gen Zers saying "gay panic" to mean like, having a crush? limerence? and like... yeah yeah linguistic drift is natural but... gay panic has a legal definition that relates to hate crimes and murder so like... let's... not shift that one's meaning?

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in reply to @dog's post:

Aisling @DiscoDeerDiary9/20/2024, 7:50 PM

It's also kind of unnerving when I hear people older than me use it

why the lucky spliff @topghost9/20/2024, 7:51 PM

they’re saying WHAT

Misty @dog9/20/2024, 7:55 PM

I've seen (mostly younger, mostly online) people use "gay panic" for, like. The feeling of being overwhelmed with attraction for someone. Which is extremely different from what "gay panic" means to me

nicky flowers @nicky9/20/2024, 8:02 PM

oh nooooo

@NotMiki9/20/2024, 8:50 PM

y i k e s

why the lucky spliff @topghost9/20/2024, 8:55 PM

wowowow

Foxhack @Foxhack9/20/2024, 10:05 PM

That makes three definitions I now know of: The two you mentioned, and one where a straight person realizes they may not be straight (due to the overwhelming attraction) and can't handle it so they freak out or lash out in some way. This particular use is more common in media, and it seems to be used by younger people.

I don't like it much either.

Amagire @amagire9/20/2024, 8:03 PM

I had some kids (ages 25-36) tell me they were "reclaiming" it and oh honey, no

Misty @dog9/20/2024, 8:59 PM

lolsob

Xīn Jīn Mèng @xinjinmeng9/21/2024, 12:14 PM

Really, we just need a final solution to this problem. 🍷

astroshark_ @astroshark31139/21/2024, 8:19 AM

Oh god I didn't even know about this, I've never used it but thanks for bringing it to my attention!

in reply to @shel's post:

gwen @gwenverbsnouns9/20/2024, 8:17 PM

I think it's too late to stop that trend, it was huge on tiktok a few years ago

in my mind there's a separation between "gay panic" as used by Gen Z and "the gay panic defense" as an evil legal construct, and the context is always obvious.

I get the discomfort though

NekoRaita @NekoRaita9/20/2024, 8:50 PM

I had no idea that gay panic had other meaning than the not serious one

Space-G @Space-G9/21/2024, 5:31 AM

Me neither

@strangeglyph9/20/2024, 9:43 PM

after having reclaimed literal slurs I don't think gay panic is that big of a deal

Space-G @Space-G9/21/2024, 5:34 AM

I think slurs are not as harmful as an accepted legal defense for murder, so I think it's a bigger deal than that, but idk

Shel @shel9/21/2024, 5:22 PM

Gay panic is substantially worse than a slur

@strangeglyph9/21/2024, 11:00 PM

is it? the main "harm" that reclamation of these terms does is the emotional impact on someone hearing it, and that is gonna be much worse for a slur one might've been targetted with than the knowledge that the same word was once also used in legislation/jurisprudence targetting one.

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