I have 2 kinds of friends.  The first who saw this title and thought “heh heh! Didn’t know you ever were!”, and the second type who will be at least slightly relieved to know that I am still heterosexual, and a bit curious about exactly what the hell I’m talking about.  Anyone who pays even the slightest bit of attention to anything I do/write/post knows that I am fairly passionate advocate for LGBT rights.  They may have also noted that I am extremely passionate, maybe even obsessed with words, and that is what I am talking about.  

A thought too mundane to remember got me thinking about the word straight, and all in all it’s pretty “straight forward”.  Straight is good!  Straight is common and desirable.  Straight is direct and well formed.  We have incorporated the idea into our daily vernacular, having adopted such colloquialisms as “Straight as an arrow!”, “Straight away”, “Straight to bed” or anywhere else for that matter.  Then there is perhaps the most meaningful appearance in the term defining ones adherence to moral guidelines, or rather “walking the straight and narrow path.”  As I struggled to find more examples to illuminate the subject, I inevitably came to the implications of the word as used in regard to our sexuality…  Then I got kinda sad…

“Straight… I’m straight.”  I thought.  The contextual opposite being gay I suppose.  However in the creative world of word-smithing context is rarely seen as a border, so I continued.  I needed to dig deeper, in to the true meaning of the adopted phrase and so it was dissected further, “If someone isn’t straight they’re gay, but if something isn’t straight, it’s crooked, jagged, broken, flaccid, curved, inconsistent, indirect, wayward, atypical…”  My sadness deepened.  I became immediately aware of one of our society’s subtle prejudices.  Whether we realize it or not, as it turns out, defining one group as straight automatically defines the counter group as the opposite of straight, and I personally couldn’t think of even a single synonym that painted the opposite of straight in a positive light.  This, for me anyway, paints an inevitably imbalanced picture where one group is elevated and the other is slandered one subtle syllable at a time.

Now let me be clear.  I speak for myself.  I’m not trying to start a war of the words and the last thing anyone needs is another point of condescension, and for me, I just don’t think I can refer to myself as straight anymore in good conscience, knowing what it indirectly implies about anyone who isn’t. Furthermore, I don’t think you should always have to ask for someone to stop hurting you.  I firmly believe that it is in everyone’s best interest to do what we can to mitigate our own damage.  As far as I am concerned, this is just one more thing I can do to hurt as little as possible.  I hope it catches on, but who knows?