“Stop being so gay.”

“What a faggot.”

These are the things I hear while walking through the halls of Niles West. Most people just ignore it, since it’s such a common insult in today’s society, but does that make it okay? The answer is an overwhelming no.

With the upcoming Day of Silence that will take place on Friday, April 20, people who use “gay'”as an insult need to realize that it isn’t just a meaningless word; it represents a lifestyle choice, and using it as a derogatory term is not only insulting to people who are gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, or questioning, but it is also insulting to people who support all sexual orientations, no matter if they are heterosexual or not.

Sophomore Emma Lazar is also offended by the carelessness of some people.

“I was on Facebook, and I was disturbed to see a comment on a picture that jokingly said, ‘how gay are we?’ and another comment that called someone a ‘fag.’ I just didn’t think it was right to use words in that way because it offends people who are in the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community. I’m not gonna lie, I used to say it because it’s such a norm in society, and I sat back and thought, ‘this is awful. Why am I insulting people who are not straight?'”

Gershom Chan, a sophomore, agrees with Lazar.

“You’re never going to hear someone say, ‘that’s so straight’ [as an insult]),” he said.

There’s no denying that using terms such as “that’s gay,” and “faggot,” as insults are carelessly overused, which is exactly why celebrities have been trying to raise awareness.

The popular punk rock band Rise Against discouraged slandering people of different sexual orientations with their song “Make It Stop.” The music video shows three homosexual teenagers being relentlessly bullied in school, which ultimately leads to them attempting suicide. The message in the video is to encourage teenagers of the LGBT community who are struggling in high school now to fight through it, because it does get better.

In an MTV article that addressed the band’s stance on the LGBT community, lead singer Tim Mcilrath clearly stated his opinion.

“I found a lot of fans who were unsure about how we felt about if our fans were gay, and that broke my heart, to think that any one of our fans might even question for a second where we stand on that,” he said.

Miami Heat players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley,  as well as pop star Hilary Duff are only a few of the many celebrities involved in the Think Before You Speak program, who’s primary goal is to reduce the usage of using ‘gay’ as an insult.

Sophomore Valya Borisova, a member of the LGBT community, it nonchalant about the term. “It’s just kind of awkward,” she said, “I don’t care what people say, but it’s awkward to be described that way.”

Senior Bryan Taico has a slightly different stance than fellow LGBT member Borisova.

“For a while, I was bothered about it every day, but honestly, it just makes me mad at the stupidity and idiocy levels. How would it be if I said, ‘that’s so black?’ or ‘that’s so Indian, or white?’ I would probably be suspended, and by saying ‘that’s so gay,’ you’re saying that the gay community is dumb, and we’re not. If you’re going to say something like that, say ‘that’s so dumb,’ or ‘that’s idiotic.'”

Statistics show that 9 out of 10 LGBT students have been harassed at school, and 1/3 have been physically abused due to their own personal choices.

Social worker Stephanie Hentz is hopeful that through general education, we can learn the impact that that phrase has on people and the school’s environment.

“The continued use of the phrase ‘that’s so gay,’ represents a number of things. The first would be ignorance. Kids don’t understand that what they say impacts other people. It also represents conscious or subconscious fears or biases or people who are, or are accused of being gay… Using that phrase means that we’re not respecting to each other. Everyone, and students in particular, need to realize that that’s not okay,” she said.

When you say that’s gay, do you realize what you say? Knock it off.