(this is annie)

I don't like it when people use "gay" in a pejorative sense, and believe me when I say that I go all Freshman Year Politically Correct on people who do that. "Queer" already has been taken back by the gay community, and 99% of the time I hear it, it's being used in the reclaimed sense of the term. That said, I think "homo" is a really funny-sounding word. I don't know if it's the thuddy rhyme or the vowel sounds, but I can't hear it without giggling like a seventh grader. A lesbian friend of mine throws it around pretty well ("Economy is tanking? Blame the homos! War not going well? It's the fault of homos who want to marry!" The homosexual menace!). Especially when the word is used in context of mocking homophobia—as in the case of The Homos or even The Homosexual Lifestyle—it just sounds as ridiculous as the bigots who initially said it. I'm not trying to make light of homophobia at all—I take it pretty seriously, and my possible Halloween costume/consciousness-raising exercise this year is Team Dresch—but there's something really funny about the syllables. Or is it just me?

By the way, I am all nervous about posting this.