LET’S REPHRASE THAT....
NOTE: The role plays below are intended to explore alternatives to the word “gay” when
used in well-intentioned, but inappropriate ways. It is important to underscore that these
scenarios depict good-natured teasing and playfulness among friends, and that using
“gay” or any other language to be intentionally mean to others is never acceptable.
Randy and Chris are window shopping at their favorite store. Randy points out a pair of sneakers that are
orange with bright pink stripes and announces, “those sneakers are so…”
[SAY SOMETHING ORIGINAL]
Karen’s 10th grade English teacher assigns the class to write an essay entitled “If I were a barnyard animal I’d
be a...” During lunch Karen jokes with her friends that the assignment
is so…” [SAY SOMETHING ORIGINAL]
During science class a bee flies through the window and startles Manuel, who swats at it in
a flustered way and sidesteps away from it awkwardly. Manuel’s best friend kids, “that was so…”
[SAY SOMETHING ORIGINAL]
While unpacking in their hotel room on the youth group overnight, Dawn’s friends observe
that she has packed each and every one of her toiletry items in a separate Ziploc bag. The girls giggle and
one teases good naturedly, “You are so…” [SAY SOMETHING ORIGINAL]
SAY SOMETHING ORIGINAL.
Instead of “that’s so gay,” try…
ludicrous
ridiculous
foolish
silly
goofy
laughable
childish
senseless
pointless
useless
meaningless
tired
weak.
pathetic
sad
wretched
feeble
mindless
tedious
dull
boring
monotonous
unfashionable
outdated
behind the times
outmoded
passé
weird.
wacky
odd
bizarre
strange
curious
peculiar
unusual
outlandish
way out
eccentric
quirky
unconventional
wild
original
annoying
maddening
irritating
grating
bothersome
frustrating