The statement itself should be self explanatory, right? I mean, why would you make jokes about a community or society you have nothing to do with in the first place? Well, apparently... What I've noticed is that a lot of parents, or just older adults in general, tend to make a lot of jokes that are aimed at the LGBTQ+ community.
Now sometimes, the context behind these jokes is harmless.
"We grew up in a different time, this is what we used to do all the time growing up."
So here are some reasons as to why you really shouldn't continue making such jokes in front of growing children and why the excuse stated above shouldn't be used as such any longer.
One of the biggest issues that seems to be growing more and more each day in our society is bullying. Bullying can occur anywhere from the playground, to a future job. Acts and rallies have been put in place to counteract these malicious attacks, but unfortunately, the most painful acts of violence can come from our words.
Imagine you get a call from your child's teacher or school principal, saying that your child has been sent to the office from taunting another student. When you arrive to handle the situation, you are told your child was in trouble for calling another student (insert any derogatory LGBTQ+ name here).
After asking your child why he or she would do such a thing, your child responds with, "Well, I heard you say it first."
We may not mean to say derogatory things for their original purpose. I am sure many of us on a daily basis will call our friends some type of name in a joking matter and just have a big old laugh about it. However, young ears that we as adults, elders, or just older siblings are responsible for helping grow into mature and respectful adults, may not always understand the difference. So why not just stop saying the harsh things altogether?
Another extremely important reason to why parents especially should stray from using LGBTQ+ crude comments and jokes can be you never know what's going on in your child's mind.
Perhaps your child, or sibling, or any younger person in your life, is struggling with coming out as gay, or transgender, or whatever, and they hear you say something negative about their sexual orientation. How is this going to help them come out any sooner? If anything, it will repress their feelings because they will be so scared of being mocked, ridiculed, or something even worse.
Show any young children in your life you will accept them for whoever they are, no matter what pronoun they ask you to use or whoever they bring home to meet the family.
Not only are negative LGBTQ+ jokes offensive to those in the community, but they will have a negative effect on the younger individuals around you. Never assume you are valid to make these types of jokes or crude comments because no one around you is gay or transgender, that you know of. Finally, never assume you are in the clear to make these jokes because "we're all adults here" - you never know who will be listening.