Bruce Jenner AKA Caitlyn Jenner, why do we need to know about this?

[Fraggle Rocker]

"Straight" does, though, imply the "non-straight" are then "crooked": a meaningless colloquialism today, certainly, but still... not precisely proper, is it? I suppose it's socially acceptable in certain contexts, like if a "straight" girl somehow widens her horizons in a twenty minute clip on an internet site, or something equally rare.

"Straight" also means "candid." Until quite recently, most gay people were careful to not be candid about their sexuality.

It also means "honorable." In the recent past (although not the distant past, such as ancient Greece), homosexuality was considered dishonorable.

It also means "reliable." I remember the few gay kids in my high school (in the late 1950s) never attending the school dances. This might have been interpreted as unreliability, especially by the people who didn't know.

 

[GeoffP]

That does bolster my point. I doubt the vocabulary of the common bigot is wide enough to grasp those insulting implications of language, though.

 

[billvon]

"Straight" does, though, imply the "non-straight" are then "crooked": a meaningless colloquialism today, certainly, but still... not precisely proper, is it?

In the circles of people I hang out with, "straight" is not a compliment. "Hey, think Janet would want to do X?" "Probably not; she's pretty straight."

(X = go swimming nude in McGregor Lake, moon the airplane, go to Tijuana or Vegas for the day, go out to the street market where they sell deep-fried grasshoppers etc.)

 

[GeoffP]

Why, you crooked bastard.

 

[Tiassa]

Mod Hat ― Don't ask

I'll take a moment to post an inline Action Note.

Two posts struck. One as off topic, the other just to scrub the material.

To the one ... if that was the best way you could figure, you might take a moment to poke around the site features. Still, though, don't; I'm pretty sure nobody really gives a damn.

To the other ... you know, I don't have an effin' clue. How interesting.