Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
Anti-gay slogans are catchphrases which oppose homosexuality. They have had an active history in the past two decades. These range from opposition on religious or moral grounds (see religion and homosexuality) to disrespectful, denegrating, and pejorative incarnations. The latter commonly use the pejorative term "fag" or "faggot".
In the political use, anti-gay slogans are commonly used to state the varied cases against homosexuality, and these reflect the spectrum of discourse among those who oppose homosexuality and gay rights. Some of these are: "Homosexuality is wrong", "God hates Fags", "AIDS Kills Fags Dead", "Save the Gerbils", "Homosexuals cannot reproduce — so they must recruit", "GAY: Got AIDS yet?" and "Fags Burn in Hell".
Some advocates consider anti-gay slogans to be examples of homophobic hate speech.
"AIDS Kills Fags Dead"
The slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead" has been used in the United States to express both opposition to homosexuality and hatred towards homosexual persons. Using the pejorative term fag for male homosexual, it is generally cited as a prime example of homophobic hate speech.
The slogan, a parody of the advertising tagline "Raid: Kills Bugs Dead", for the SC Johnson insecticide Raid, appeared during the early years of AIDS in the United States, when it was mainly diagnosed among male homosexuals and was almost invariably fatal (see "gay disease").
The slogan apparently appeared for the first time in public in the early 1990s, when Sebastian Bach, lead singer of the heavy metal band Skid Row, wore it on a t-shirt. Some sources say this happened during a concert; others claim it was in a magazine photo shoot. At first, Mr. Bach joked about it on MTV, but he later apologized, claiming that he had many gay friends. For years afterward he wore an "AIDS Kills Everyone" t-shirt, after being confronted by his friend, the designer Michael Schmidt. Bach's website does not mention the episode.
The phrase has also been used by religious opponents of homosexuality. It was seen in 1998 at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a victim of anti-gay violence, when a group led by the Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church staged a protest.
"God hates Fags"
Fred Phelps is the leader and head minister of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. He is also owner of the web sites "godhatesfags.com" and "godhatesamerica.com" and a perpetrator of anti-homosexual propaganda. His group carries out daily picketing in Topeka, and travels nationally to picket the funerals of homosexual victims of murder, gay-bashing or death related to AIDS/HIV, as well as other events related or supposedly related to gay people.
Phelps and his supporters and members of his church (1) attend said gatherings, as well as other gay-related events, with signs bearing anti-homosexual slogans which some consider to be hate speech. These have included, but are not limited to, "God Hates Fags," "Matthew Shepard Rots In Hell," and "AIDS Kills Fags Dead".
"Fear God Not Fags"
External links
- Sebastian Bach's official website
- "La Dolce Musto" Michael Musto column discussing Sebastian Bach, dated May 31 - June 6, 2000