Val

It depends on the situation and what context it's being used. Older people still use the word in a derogatory context. The LGBTQ community took the word and has been able to strip it of its negative connotations for the most part. But bias still exists in the heterosexual community. So I would say if you hear someone using the word, listen to their intention behind using it. If their intention is good, then no harm, no foul, if their intention is bad, then let them know it is wrong to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation.

As for your question, "what can someone call a gay person?", Some people identify as LGBTQ2AI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, questioning, intersexed, allied). Still. others don't don't feel they fit into any of these labels. LGBTQ for the most part can be used broadly without offending people.

Justin

"IF WE DON’T BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FOR PEOPLE WE DESPISE, WE DON’T BELIEVE IN IT AT ALL." – NOAM CHOMSKY

I understand that some people find the term queer to be offensive when it is used to describe gay people. I don’t happen to be one of those people; but even if I were, I would still ardently argue as a matter of principle that the people of a free society should have the right to use language I consider to be boorish, bigoted, or even hateful. I recognize the suggestion that free people should only be allowed to make politically correct choices about the language they use as one that is continually espoused by faux liberals in the mainstream media, and I reject it outright. Although I wholeheartedly support the right of faux liberals everywhere to espouse reverse oppression, I choose not to participate in that brand of bigotry. Gay people have historically known true oppression at the hands of non-gay people, but their response to that oppression should never be reverse oppression. The formerly oppressed have a moral obligation to never become the oppressors. It is truly a sin that the faux liberal followers of an odious political movement that spawned a tiny, Middle Eastern theocracy dedicated to the reverse oppression of others since 1948 have not yet learned that important truth. The world would be a much more loving and peaceful place if they had.

I thank God that for now I still have the right to voice my unique opinions even if they differ from the mainstream media’s, yours, or anyone else’s.

I wish you fair winds and following seas.