Letter Of The Day: Jews Are So Gay

We had some students write into the Reading Eagle recently, and here’s one of the writers and his views on the phrase ‘that’s so gay’:

Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted as part of a class project by Patricia M. Hahn’s 10th- and 11th-grade students in her publications and media class at Exeter High School.

Editor:

In response to the article “Student use of ‘that’s so gay’ focus of trial” (Reading Eagle, March 1):

If the court rules that students cannot use the phrase, there will be thousands of students receiving marks on their permanent transcript.

I do not believe the phrase is inappropriate or discriminating to anyone. It is just a commonly used phrase that teens use to express frustration or disapproval of a topic.

Teens are not trying to target or harass people who are homosexual or bisexual.

If we limit students from using an innocent and harmless phrase, then our country is not as free as we are lead to believe.

Mike Esposito
Exeter Township

Whether I agree with ‘banning’ a word or not(I don’t), you have to love the logic behind some of the points in this letter. The phrase is used by a lot of people, so we can’t say it’s wrong to use. And why is it used by teens to show disapproval of something? It couldn’t be that gays have been looked down upon in society, could it? Of ccourse not. The phrase was just randomly thought up one day for no reason at all.

But we’re not done! We can’t be too mad at teenagers in high school, they just learn what it taught to them by their elders.  And what do the elders say?  The commenters come through again, this time with bonus contempt for Jews!:

Please,

Whenever you haggle someone and get a cheaper price, you “jew’d them down”

Stop being gay.

And another commenter:

Yep, and with a big nose…cuz air is free!

Uh, oh boy. Gotta love that internet anonymity sometimes.