Simpsons blasted for gay remark

I think that maybe this was taken too far. I remember as a teenager, the word gay would be used to say something was stupid and no one flipped out then

Really, really stupid. When I heard the joke I thought nothing of it (I just laughed). I was puzzled when I heard that the Simpsons was in a small bit of trouble over a remark on the Halloween special. I honestly had no idea what they were talking about and had to read the article to find out what joke some overly sensitive people found offensive.
Anyone offended has absolutely no Sympathy from me.

seenthebean, I think if everyone in the world had the mentality you do, it would be a more tolerable place. Its like you say Minority have always been the butt of many jokes. But so have Whites. I mean if we cant make fun of ourselves, than we shouldnt make fun of others and what type of world would that be. As long as we arnt intentionally causing harm to someone. Which WASNT the case with the Simpson. They havnt singled out gays and started a bashing crusade against them utsing there medium. They poked fun, just like they do every other minority. i mean, when I first heard latinos being made fun of on the Simpson, I was "allright! We got the Simpsons attention!" I mean, its an honor being poked fun at by them. Gay activist shouldnt take it so personal. There are worse people out there spreading TRUE hate messages. Concentrate on that.moreless

This wasn't blown out of proportion at all...

I myself am gay and I think this was blown way out of proportion. Had I seen this I probably would have laughed at it. Like people have said, everyone is going to crack jokes at minorities and there is nothing you can do. When people make fun of whites specifically, I still laugh even though technically, they are offending me. I think a chunk of the gay community is a bit oversensitive about this stuff. People will continue to say "That's so gay and there is nothing you can do about it.

Yes I agree no one says 'that's so black' or 'that's so hispanic' but then nobody says 'that's so homosexual' either! People are not fighting to be called gay they are fighting for equal rights. So let's stop using gay as a word for homsexuality, or better yet, take it to mean 'happy' when someone says to you that is so gay

What's a homosexual?

So it was just his pumpking carol and Nelson directed it at a PUMPKIN NOT A HUMAN BEING!!!!!!!!! Gwt over this!

I'd have to agree with borikuarocks, I'm black so we def. get jokes directed at us ALL the time. I certainly don't get upset over every little remark. There are lines I don't want crossed but this particular issue is really small in comparison.

I think its stupid. i mean Im latino and I hear jokes made at latino all the time on the Simpsons and Family Guy. I dont get offended. I know its meant to be funny and theres no hard feelings. I mean Carlos Mencia rips a new one on ever race imaginable, but he also makes fun of his own race. So its all in good fun. Same with Dave Chapelle. he makes fun of whites, but hes not shy of dragging down blacks with a few stereotypical remarks as well. Why should the Homosexual community be given any slack?

First Amendment (Freedom of Speech) If you don't like then go cry to the first Amendment.

I think this is being to drematic. The gay joke is a catch it or missed it joke.

Newsflash: The Simpsons make fun of EVERYONE! Granted it wasn't funny (but then, the show overall has sucked the past ten years), but GLSEN needn't go making mountains out of mole hills. Them getting made fun of is just like anyone else being the object of a joke. It's called acceptance, and it's a two-way street.

Just to further offend the crowds, I want to remind you guys of a famous saying:"Arguing on the internet is like running in the special Olympics.... Even if you win, you're still a ***."(at least it's not insulting to gays ha ha ha)The term gay as stupid is just a turn of phrase. Move on people... there's bigger fights at hand.

tafj73, actually you just spoke a little disparagingly about what you said. You never actually rescinded it or apologized. There is a big difference. "Mincing words means never having to say you're sorry"The fact is the word wasn't "yours" to begin with so homosexuals don't have any right to get upset at the word further evolving. As for any personal discussion, your personal prejudices are directly relevant to this discussion at hand, because it lets us know in what context you're making your statements. For example if someone is being a hypocrite it tells us that their morale compass is selective and their particular outrage isn't that noteworthy.

You are all super gay

That's true, I do hear people use that phrase a lot, but I HATE it when you do!

FFS Nelson Muntz is a character that undermines ***phobic culture.

@cross_mr: You'll notice that the posts I have made prior do not contain any personal attacks towards you individually (even though I stated "you're" in my last post, it was generalized and not directed at you). However, you felt it pertinent to place attacks on me personally by calling me a "hypocrite" and "prejudice." While I did generalize a comment towards straight people in my first post, I rescinded it in my next post by admitting my error. You, however, seem to want to continue personal attacks on me, which if true, we should discuss privately between us without carrying on in this Comments section. As for the evolution of word meanings, I personally apologize to any gay/happy people in the world who were offended when gay evolved into also meaning "homosexual," just as how I was offended when gay has evolved into meaning "stupid."moreless

However, if they feel that strongly perhaps they should contact Principal Skinner and ask him to give Nelson some Detention.....

I'm sorry but I'm over 40 and originally from Scotland and Gay to me still means 'Happy'. Since the homosexual community have adopted this word for themselves, they are the ones who have no right to complain. I would still prefer to use the word in it's original context, but can't however, do you hear me complaning?

@tafj73 "Why does gay have to mean stupid?" Why does gay have to mean homosexual? Words evolve to take on new meanings. You forget gay meaning homosexual is in itself slang. You're a hypocrite and you're prejudice. You have no business trying to take any morale high ground here. Here is a small hint, words in English can have many meanings. So here is a deal, stop using it to mean homosexual, and other people will stop using it to mean stupid.

Hahaha, nice one <strong>kissfreak333</strong>.

aren't they overreacting just a lil bit?!

Jeez can't the gay community take a joke anymore? Grow up people its just a tame joke! Talk about insecure....

The small number (I'm sure) of GLBT's who are truly up in arms about this trivial crap and similar trivial crap must still be insecure about their sexuality no matter how much they say they aren't, which is the only reason they would jump on every little slang word instead of focusing on the real issues. Someone being killed because they are gay is something to complain about and a complaint that everybody can get behind. A TV show "joke" (if you can even call it that) that's drawn from the daily language of about 270,000,000+ english-speaking americans (not counting Canada) is not something to complain about. It's just whiny. It's like women who still complain about the glass ceiling that actually no longer exists, at, well, every level of the corporate world (Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, was in the top 20 CEO's for amount of money earned in 2006 I think, and that's just one example).Instead of jumping at silly things like this, the GLS Education Network should be focusing on... well... educating people? If young people are educated, a slang word for stupid isn't going to truly affect someone's perception of gay people in a negative way. It certainly hasn't affected mine, and I've been using the word since I was a wee boy. Fortunately the gay people I know don't complain about silly trivial stuff like this and instead focus on real issues. They don't even complain on the internet from what I can tell, which is pretty amazing since it seems like everybody complains about everything on the internet.Besides, if you try to start censorship at any level, especially for something as gentle as gay references, it WILL have a slope effect down to the "worse" stuff. And I'd rather like to keep the hilarious Jew jokes on family guy and south park among others, thanks.moreless

cross_mr: I will admit that I was hypocritical when I said that "straight people don't fully get it," as I was making an undeserved general statement about the straight community. Still, I stand by the rest of my post. Using the word gay to describe something "stupid" is also childish and immature (no matter if you're young or old), because you're using a word that millions of people hold dear to their hearts as they're fighting for acceptance, while people who are not gay flimsily use the word in a careless manner, similar to using the n-word. I understand that cartoons are cartoons and people will say what they want to say, but there should be an understanding that there's no reason for people to use gay to mean "stupid." Why not just say "stupid"? Why not say "that's so black" to mean "that's stupid"? Or "that's so Jewish"? Or "that's so Hispanic"? Why target gay people as being "stupid"? That is the issue, whether or not it's used as a joke. I guess it's humorously pitiful that people stoop to that level, since it just shows how childish they can be.moreless

i don't really think it's that bad but i guess some people would.

would the "straight" community get pissed if a gay character said something was super straight. total b.s.

GLSEN should quit being sooo sensitive, sheesh people can't make a joke without gay rights' on there backs.

Well editing doesn't work for some reason so I'm going to have to double post:
"Straight people don't fully get it". I find that pretty insulting. You claim other people are being ignorant and here you are making blanket and general statements. I hate to break it to you but you're just as prejudice as the people you claim who are insulting you.

"We've come a long way in dealing with bigotry and hate, but we have a long way to go....the comments on this board show that clearly. "Yes people nit-picking and going out of their way to be offended at every little thing really do demonstrate that people have a long way to go before society can move forward. Part of gaining respect is not to not lose your mind at every little misstep. You do that and people don't respect you. You become a joke. You show the maturity of a child and it doesn't do anything to improve your standing in society.moreless

There comes a point where people just need to get over themselves if we want to move forward.

Well it is said that Nelson is gay and that he acts out to hide is real feelings and that he went out with leisa to get close to Bart.

I would have been more offended. If I hadn't heard the term, "super gay more than a hundred times in my life. And tafj73, if you're worried about rampant use of the N-word, perhaps you should turn to Cartoon Network and watch an episode of The Boondocks, most would find an entire episode more offensive than what Nelson said.

Wow! Now I feel "super gay just for commenting on this thread

People get over yourselves, they're JUST CARTOONS. To bad Nelson wasn't around, or I'm sure someone would've served him a with a stupid lawsuit

It is a cartoon for pete's sake, should nerds, catholics, alcoholics, etc be offended, they are made fun of all the time on this show.

Ha... I guess they never saw the episode "Homer's Phobia." That woulda twisted their little panties in a knot.

once again, it wasn't used as either definition 1.'happy' or definition 2. orientation but was used in this context- definition 3. lame/stupid.So, it's the wrong forum to make a point

Wow....I'm speechless....

I agree with tafj73, The Simpsons writers should have been more responsible. They are hardly the only ones who do this, but since it is such a major show with a huge audience, it makes sense to comment on their blunder. To be clear- gay in this instance was used instead of "stupid". This is a common saying these days ("That's so gay and it very directly sends the message that it is stupid to be gay (or that gay people ARE stupid!). Either way, it is derogatory and hateful. It is part of the culture which is still ***phobic. Making an issue out of Nelson's comment on The Simpsons is part of a wider push to educate people about how hateful this saying is. It needs to be understood that such hate is not acceptable in any form, comedic or otherwise.
There are a lot of comments on here which are downplaying the issue, but the fact is, you don't get to decide whether others should be hurt by this comment. If you don't live with the stigma of being gay (something which is NOT a choice), then you can't understand the perspective of those who are offended. If you still don't understand, consider- Would it be acceptable for people to say "That's so black", instead of "That's so stupid"? We've come a long way in dealing with bigotry and hate, but we have a long way to go....the comments on this board show that clearly.moreless

I'm gay myself, and I can understand why it would be offensive. I also think The Simpsons writers could have been more responsible. Using the term gay in a derogatory way can be offensive to some people, we all need to understand that. Also, using gay in this way is similar to people using the n-word years ago ("ni--er"), it's used derogatorily. Nowadays, people understand the stigma behind using that word, where if it's used by non-African American folk, it's offensive. The same goes for using gay in a derogatory way, it offends the people it's directed at. Even though gay does mean "happy," we all know that gay in this case was "homosexual," which is offensive. Straight people don't fully get it, and they probably never will. And gay people should be more responsible too and not take it as a joke, because then you're just saying it's okay, which it's not.moreless

lol, this is hardly the worst thing done on tv regarding gay people.

Did they forget this was the FOX NETWORK!!!!!!!!!! I guess they didn't have anything to do and just felt compelled to get attention.

What rubbish. Haven't they seen the past episodes?

People stop being so sensitive... We have become a Nation of Wimps. Every other day it seems like some group is poo poo'ing about what another group says. Its time we start celebrating our differences as a people instead of always having to act like we don't see the pink elephant in the in the room. Look I know this isn't PC and all... But where there is smoke there is usually fire. And please don't tell me you know someone that goes against the stereotype, because for everyone that you can point out that isn't... You could if put to the press find 10 more that were. So lets all be honest here... Gays are more likely to be effeminate then straights... Whites are more likely to not have the best dance steps on the dance floor... Indians are more likely to barter a deal then others... Blacks are more likely to be first picked in a game of Pick Up B-ball... Asian's are more likely to be in a Science field if coming over from Asia... Mentally Handicapped Kids are usually not the ones writing Computer programs for Microsoft... The point is.. While you may know someone that doesn't fit this... Lets be honest... You also know a few that do... So what it doesn't make them bad people for being a stereotype... So if Nelson wants to say that the Great Pumpkin is Super Gay so what... He suppose to be a kid... Most kids haven't learned yet to have a very loud inner voice telling them its wrong to say (Is that a Stereotype, I don't know).moreless