Homosexual vs. gay

[Mark Graber]

There are, of course, numerous explanations for word choices, but surely
Professor Pinello's findings are interesting, even as we dispute their
significance.  We might debate the term "homophobe" but the language
choices do seem to suggest that Scalia is more disapproving of gay
conduct than either Thomas or Rehnquist.

Mark A. Graber

>>> "Jason Mazzone" <jason.mazzone at brooklaw.edu> 08/08/05 8:50 PM >>>
I agree that care should be taken in using labels like "gay" and
"homosexual." But surely the same care is also warranted before using
the
labels "gay activist" and "agenda." Some people might think that the
"activists" are those who would send the police into adults'
bedrooms--and
that if there is an "agenda" at issue it is the effort to exclude a
minority of citizens from some basic protections the rest of us can take
for granted.

Jason Mazzone
Assistant Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
250 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 780-7514 (voice)
(718) 780-0394 (fax)


Eugene Volokh writes:

> To the extent that using the name "gay" is indeed part of
> the agenda of gay activist groups, people may be reluctant to use the
> term precisely because it seems to endorse that agenda (not just the
> part that gays shouldn't be hated or feared, but also other parts of
the
> agenda).

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