Will Young and the Use of Language

From the Swindon Advertiser

Chart star Will Young has said more should be done to clamp down on homophobic language and the use of the word "gay" as an insult in schools.

The Leave Right Now singer said he had even taken up the issue with Education Secretary Michael Gove who he said had been "encouraging".

Thing is, other than the "happy and carefree" use of the word, the word "gay" has been, for decades, used as an insult or slang (and probably slang simply to cover up illegal acts). From Wikipedia

• Gay—Originally meant (13th century) "lighthearted", "joyous" or (14th century) "bright and showy", it also came to mean "happy"; it acquired connotations of immorality as early as 1637, either sexual e.g., gay woman "prostitute", gay man "womanizer", gay house "brothel", or otherwise, e.g., gay dog "over-indulgent man" and gay deceiver "deceitful and lecherous". In America by 1897 the expression gay cat referred to a hobo, especially a younger hobo in the company of an older one; by 1935, it was used in prison slang for a homosexual boy; and by 1951 and clipped to gay, referred to homosexuals.

So, from that, we can see that what was used as an insult was subsequently embraced by the gay community. Which is fair enough. It's a good way of disarming the insult. You call yourself a dyke, someone calling you a dyke loses it's power.

But if you're going to embrace a street slang insult, it seems a bit off to complain that people people are using it as a street slang insult.