Occasionally it has come up here in TWSS that a gay or lesbian player has told a story about encountering some form of anti-gay statement at the table, and we've all discussed how we would deal with it.
Obviously things can be a little different at the poker table, where we often don't want to chase away a very bad player no matter what kind of garbage he spews, but my usual stance is that I speak up, even if no one else will, because it is only when society as a whole takes a stand and says that calling someone a ****** is hate speech that it will become less tolerated, much like calling a black person a ****** is no longer tolerated (and I'm not going to get into the whole 'reclaiming the word' issue here).
I was rereading one of my texts for my dissertation research (the 2nd edition of Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Experiences), when I came across this passage, which I think sums up far better than I ever could why gay slurs as hate speech should not be tolerated, and the damage they can do, so I thought I'd post it here. Do with it as you see fit.
"Most people in American society find epithets such as ****** and **** to be offensive precisely because they convey raw hatred and prejudice. Such words have been used historically by oppressors to remind the oppressed of their subordinate status. Similar levels of hatred are conveyed by words such as ******, dyke, and queer, and the threats of violence (implicit and explicit) that accompany them. Such antigay verbal abuse constitutes a symbolic form of violence and a routine reminder of the ever present threat of physical assault. Its "cost" to the perpetrator in time, energy, and risk is minimal, yet it reinforces the target's sense of being an outsider in American society, a member of a disliked and devalued minority, and a socially acceptable target for violence.
Antigay verbal assault challenges the victim's routine sense of security and invulnerability, making the world seem more malevolent and less predictable. The psychological effects of verbal abuse may be as severe as those following physical assaults, and potentially more insidious because victims of verbal abuse may find its "psychic scars" more difficult to identify than physical wounds. It affects how one feels about oneself with no physical injury to which to attribute the feeling."
I know it's easy to say it's words, shrug it off and move on, but I think everyone knows that words can hurt, and hurt badly. So I don't care if the villain is a gigantic fish, I'm going to continue with my policy of telling anyone using gay slurs to put people down (which fortunately is extremely rare in my life) that I don't think it's funny or acceptable.
Just my .02 cents.
Last edited by SGT RJ; 01-23-2012 at 07:51 PM.
Reason: it's hard to talk about hate speech on 2p2 without evading the profanity filter. :P