I just read a new study that said that more people polled support "gays serving in the military" than "homosexuals serving in the military". The numbers are astounding, 70% in favor versus 57% even though both terms are accurate and neither is a slur.
It is absolutely wierd how a simple change in semantics can color a poll. This is a good thing to remember in the future and especially when it comes to minorities. I suspect if the term "negro" is used instead of "African American" in a poll you'd get similar results.
Now that our community has started adding letters to LGBT such as QQIA (queer, questioning, intersex,allied) I have to wonder how that poll would work with those terms. My suspicion is that if you askede people if they wanted "queers to serve openly in the military" they would be overwhelmingly against it. That word, though many in our community have embraced it, still carries a big emotional wallop.
The lesson here is when speaking with the general public, use non-inflamitory words to get better results. Does this mean we should assimilate? Hell no, just refraim from using our jargon with the unenlightened.
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