Fag or Faggot

After seeing a bit on the news about Ann Coulter and her so-called "faux pas" calling John Edwards a faggot, I got to thinking about the time a few years ago that I was on a camping trip at Roaring River with nearly my entire family. One late afternoon, in one conversation among many at this one table, I playfully called my aunt a fag as I was sitting next to my cousin and her partner who just happen to be lesbians.

Here's how it went down:
My aunt had gone on a flea market excursion in Eureka Springs during one day of the trip. I love flea markets. I would have jumped at the chance to go. Yet, she didn't ask me. And yes, I was just a tiny bit upset that she didn't.
As soon as she told me that she had just come back from this *~*wonderful*~* little*~* flea*~* market*~* in*~* downtown*~* Eureka*~*, I looked at her, squinted my eyes and said, "Oh, you fag."
Immediately I felt like I had been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. My first thought was, that what I had just said and who I just happened to be sitting next to, would not mix. Being the cool chicks that they are, I don't think my cousin would have really even cared that I said it and her partner probably wouldn't care either. Still, I immediately got bug-eyed, figgity and tried stuttering and stammering my way into a change of subject as best as I could. This was no easy feat with my aunt sitting across the table from me, half-assed trying not to laugh. I'm sure I sounded like Porky Pig on crack trying to quickly think of something else to talk about. I felt like a complete idiot. Turns out they didn't hear me but I was immensely embarassed just the same. It was nothing more than one of a million "open mouth, insert hoof" moments in a day in the life of Sandy.

When I was younger, (child of the late 70's, early 80's that I was), saying the word fag or faggot didn't have the meaning or the impact that it does these days. I guess because there weren't as many gay people willing to speak up against it. Everyone said it. But not now. I mean, years ago, who would have ever thought that there would be gay people crawling out of the woodwork like there is now. Certainly not me. I never knew anyone that was gay. I thought gay people all lived in far off places like California, Colorado or Canada. No one in my tiny town of 300 was gay that I knew about. And certainly, never did I think in a million years that someone in my family would turn out to be gay. That's just how naive I was about it when I was younger. Fag was a demeaning and derogatory name but it just didn't have the impact that it does now. Because of the voices of millions, it's now very offensive to call someone a fag or a faggot. And I completely agree with them now. But back then, I would have never thought it would come to that. Man, how times change. And how quickly!

In England, a fag is a cigarette. Figure that one out.