“That's so gay”: Language Use and Antigay Bias Among Heterosexual College Students

Abstract

Using the word “gay” to refer to something that is “boring” is part of American slang, and heterosexual males commonly call one another a “fag.” The responses of 767 college students were analyzed to explore how this language relates to antigay bias. Results of multiple regression explained 14.8% of the variance for believing that “it's no big deal” to call someone a fag, and age, sex, major, and attitudes toward gay men were significant predictors. For the frequency of saying “that's so gay,” 17.5% of the variance was explained by age, sex, major, and friends’ attitudes toward sexual minorities. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.