BBC: It's okay to say 'gay'

Finally, we can start using the word gay pejoratively without the risk of being called a homophobe.

No less of an authority than the BBC (THE BB FREAKIN' C!!!) has now determined that the term gay no longer refers to homosexuals.

All the gay, er, homosexual people should be relieved. Think of all of Fred Phelps's useless signs.

According to the BBC, the word now means "dull and boring." So this might be considered gay, under the new meaning of the term (Just kiddin' Tony. Just bustin' your balls).

Here's the history of the word, ganked from the BBC:

HOW BRIGHT BECAME DULL

• Believed to derive from Old French "gai", the Latin "gaius" or a Germanic source. Originally meant "carefree", "happy" or "bright and showy"
  
• From late 17th century acquired sexual connotation of "uninhibited by moral constraints"
  
• Gertrude Stein’s Miss Furr & Miss Skeene (1922) cited as first published reference to ambiguous sexuality
  
• Noel Coward pens tribute to dandies of the “gay Nineties” wearing green carnations in 1929 musical Bitter Sweet
  
• Used to describe foppish dress code, unattached men or bachelors until adopted by homosexuals themselves in 1960s
  
• Originally used as an adjective ("he is gay"), the word is adopted as singular noun ("I am the only gay in the village")
  
• Children and students use gay as shorthand for "rubbish" during 1990s
  
• Bloggers substitute "gay" for "boring" or "dull", reversing original meaning

Now, I don't mean to be gay about this whole thing. Don't want to belabor the point. But I can't wait to start calling all kinds of stuff gay.

Like, I think world cup soccer is incredibly gay (buncha muscular men chasing a ball all day). And don't get me started on how gay NASCAR races are. Hell, you can't get much gayer than a bunch of guys driving up each other's rear bumpers. Puuhleeze!

But there could be some political fall-out from this. I mean, just think how many gay marriages there are now (not mine, of course).

tagged: gay, homosexual, BBC, World Cup Soccer, NASCAR, gay marriage, Fred Phelps