Things were unbelievably homophobic when I was a kid, and I guess I just didn't notice

Playing supposedly innocent playground games like Smear The Queer, giggling at old books that used the word gay in its original sense. And there was the pledge of allegiance parody that we somehow all picked up:

I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Michael Jackson is a ***.
Pepsi-Cola burned him up,
Now he's drinking 7up.

And the weirdest part is, looking at it now, it was a whole lot of little things that individually might not have been terrible, but added up to a very negative view of anybody who wasn't strictly heterosexual.

Weird how you only see some things in retrospect.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

SW-User

Fortunately it seems this kind of default homophobic culture is becoming less prevalent, though I'm sure it's still very much a way of life in some areas. I remember when I first heard "gay" as an insult, and I remember when I was a little older and that was looked down upon. It gives me hope for the future.