CMAJ Readers' Forum

Gay blade refuses to hang up his sword

Online posting: Oct. 30, 1996
Published in print: Dec. 15, 1996 (CMAJ 1996;155:1666)
Re: Gay, lesbian and bisexual health care issues and medical curricula, by Drs. Gregory Robinson and May Cohen, Can Med Assoc J 1996;155:709-11 [full text / résumé]
As a practising heterosexual man, I deplore the annexation of the great old word "gay" by the homosexual community, with the collusion of the media, including CMAJ. For some time now I have experienced great difficulty in giving vent to my feelings by singing a gay song, being a gay blade at parties, having a gay old time, swinging a golf club with gay abandon or donning my gay apparel at Christmas time.

I applaud the efforts being made to reform curricula and training to improve the healh care provided to this and other groups who have experienced insensitivity or discrimination. Let us improve the educational experience. We no longer use euphemisms to describe genitals or bodily functions, even when talking to infants. Why not call a homosexual a homosexual and then we can all, once again, be gay or glum depending only on our mood and not our sexual orientation?

M. William L. Davis
Salt Spring Island, BC
davcan@mail.islandnet.com

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