This was an odd mini-trend. When I got into work, a co-worker IM'ed me and asked if I had been listening to a particular radio station at 7 AM. I said that I hadn't. Apparently, they had done a bit about the gayest songs of all time, and apparently used the word "fag." I got the link that the list came from and it is a gay site in Australia that had compiled the list for the gay Mardi Gras there. I didn't hear the radio broadcast about the list, so I don't know about what the tone was like. The co-worker was offended.
Later, a friend who is gay and into comic books sent me a thread from a forum about usage of "homo" and "faggot" in a comic book. The forum was for gay comic book fans, but there was still a wide range of reactions.
When I was in high school, I was student council president. One time, we were talking about an event, and another officer said something about trying to "jew someone down." I cringed, but I also wondered whether they cognized how offensive that phrase might be.
I don't want to be among the ranks of the terminally straight laced, but I think some sensitivity is called for. I don't buy the argument that somehow saying that using a patently mean-spirited remark doesn't count if the person is too thick to realize it. (I always want to retort "Oh, you're just dense, not hostile. Great.")
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