Reclaiming the "F" Word

The other day I was walking through a large crowd on my way to the pharmacy and that’s when I heard it. The one word that makes every little gay boy’s stomach knot and heart stop: “FAGGOT!” The exclamation wasn’t targeted towards me, and I’m unsure if it was it was targeted towards anyone else. With the crowd being so large, I couldn’t find the source of this anti-gay outburst.

But what I want to focus on was my physiological response to hearing someone use this word. My body pretty much entered into a “fight or flight” mode. In a sense, I felt threatened by just hearing the word. This makes me wonder though, can we ever reclaim the term “faggot” as an LGBTQ community?


I am not sure if the term will ever be reclaimed, but I don’t see why it can’t be. In the same way that the we have reclaimed the term “queer,” I believe that through a collective response, homosexuals everywhere can reclaim “faggot.” Would that be too radical? Yes, but that’s the point. Reclaiming any term or identity requires a radical movement. Through the radical action of reclamation though, we disarm our oppressor.

We give that word so much power. And by extension, we give the oppressor that uses the word power. Once we stop fearing the term “faggot,” they have nothing on us when they yell it at us. The objectification stops once we take “faggot” on as a collective identity.

Stick and stones may break my bones, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let their words hurt me anymore. I’m a homo, a dicksucker, a queer, a FAGGOT! I get to label who and what I am. If I’m allowing myself to victimized by a word, then I feel like I’m not doing enough to strengthen the LGBTQ community. Albeit, yes, words can lead to actions. “Faggot” has lead to very violent actions. But what happens when we strip away the “hate speech” label from “faggot”? Doesn’t it just become another word?