Countless forms of bullying have been reported over the years and are disliked, though accepted, parts of life for school-aged youth.Many have received petty taunts of being “uncool” or “nerdy.” But anti-gay bullying has been all the rage in recent years. Unfortunately, this is because being “gay” is seen as a negative thing. This may be the result of American machoism. Regardless, being artistic, sensitive and aware of fashion don’t seem to be good attributes for a strapping young man when assessed by his peers.The government and media frown more upon anti-gay sentiments as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community gains respect and civil rights. But many teens and young adults still use anti-gay slurs — sometimes without realizing it.The phrase “That’s so gay,” for instance, is used to describe an undesirable person, thing or event. ”That test was gay.”Certainly the test taken wasn’t attracted to a test of the same sex. Tests don’t have sexes; they have questions — questions the taker apparently couldn’t answer, thus becoming frustrated to the point of calling an inanimate object “gay.”Today’s youth use this term and others like it without considering how offensive they may be. Likewise, the phrase has been re-contextualized to where kids who use the term don’t understand its origins. The same contextualization applies when someone claims an outfit is “ghetto.” They probably aren’t referring to the dress of members of the Jewish community who were forced to live in close, unhealthy quarters before and during World War II. There can be serious consequences in asserting “That’s so gay,” or any other derogatory slur in everyday conversation. Using gay slurs perpetuates the negative associations of being LGBTQ. Gay teens react differently to the negative use of a word referring to them. Some aren’t bothered or brush it off, while others become offended and hurt. And some LGBTQ teens take the insults to heart and commit acts of violence against themselves or others. Gay teens are at least three times more likely to commit suicide than other youths.The anti-gay slurs also affect non-gay individuals. An 11-year-old boy was found dead after hanging himself because of constant taunts of being a fag and queer earlier this month. The boy did not identify himself as gay but liked to do well in school — which wasn’t appreciated by his classmates.Reprimanding this sort of demeaning language has started in the form of online groups and campaigns.ThinkB4YouSpeak is an online campaign that advocates against anti-gay bullying. The goal of the campaign is to reduce and prevent the use of homophobic language and create more positive environments for LGBTQ teens by raising awareness and educating school personnel and parents on the issue. Slurs like “That’s so quadriplegic” or “That’s so autistic” sound silly and blatantly offensive. “That’s retarded,” “That’s Jewish,” “That’s gay” and “That’s ghetto” should be too.Equality is not about particular minorities getting rights they are not afforded. It’s about all people, minorities and majorities, possessing the same rights as one another.Minority groups should see the necessity of working together. Rights and respect for one group proves the same for other minorities.The negative use of any subgroup’s name should be abandoned. A dike is a barrier for holding back water, and a fagot is a bundle of branches bound together to be burned. Think before speaking.Isabel Blum is a 21-year-old communication disorders junior from New Orleans.– – – -Contact Isabel Blum at [email protected]