If some people actually listened to the lyrics of popular mainstream music, then they would truly understand the somewhat obvious messages intended by the artist. Macklemore’s clear attempt to promote equality between the heterosexual and LGBT communities however, has definitely fallen on ‘deaf ears’ through my recent experiences of returning to my hometown. People really do become numb to what they say.

“Are you gay?”

A seemingly harmless question to some, where they think it is OK to ask someone such a personal question. No regard for the person whatsoever; but I’m not writing to moan. I’m simply writing to inform people to think before they speak.

The question does much more than what meets the eye. Some may say now ‘well, how am I offending you by asking you that question?’ or wait wait wait, a better one would be, ‘I haven’t got a problem with gay people or anything’ – a line which typically follows the question asked.  I personally got this one whilst attempting to enjoy a drink in a local bar, by a couple of ignoramuses.

Language is a powerful product produced by human beings, I’m sure we all agree (especially if you’re a linguist). We can use it to persuade, influence, scare, threaten, motivate…the list goes on. The functions of language are endless. However, this particular question has posed great problems for me in the past and I’m sure many other people ‘coming to terms’ with their sexuality.

The question for me is more of a challenge. I mean, you wouldn’t ask someone if they were straight, would you? You know, for confirmation or anything. When people used to ask me, I would immediately deny any association with me being gay or bisexual. In fact, it really damaged me in the end. The question had the power to cause a lot of physiological problems. When someone asked me if I was gay, I knew I was, but I said ‘no’ because I thought, ‘well if you’re asking whether I’m gay or not, it must mean that there’s something wrong with me, if I was’. Like I said previously, when has anyone ever said to someone ‘are you straight?’

How can such a question cause so much anguish? This really links back to what we’ve all studied throughout our degrees (or currently studying). What does this question actually mean? On the surface, it may seem to require a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. However, the question does much more than that depending on the situational factors of the addressee. Is this more evidence that meaning is subjective or possibly…contextual? I think so…

I think there are two perspectives we could look at this discussion from, and also, gleam light into two fields of study; a linguistic one and societal one. From a linguistic perspective, where does the meaning of that question come from? And what does it mean for the individual? From a societal perspective, is there really equality when someone says ‘I’m not against gays or anything but, are you gay?’

For the latter, I’m going to say…no.

I’m going to leave you now to ponder over the question. But, don’t think too much into it. I mean, that would be a bit gay, wouldn’t it?

#ThinkBeforeYouSpeak