Bashers say it. Schoolyard bullies say it. Even right-wing politicians say it. Oh, and TV stars and news commentators say it, albeit not without a certain amount of backlash.

Say what? Faggot.

Like many slang terms, the origins of the word faggot as a term for gay men are unclear. The original English meaning of the word is “a bundle of sticks used as fuel.” The association with male homosexuality may arise from the heretic-burning days of the inquisition, either because gay men themselves were burned as heretics, or were used as fuel to burn heretics — giving a whole new twist to the term “flaming faggot.”

Faggot and fag continued to be used in England for centuries, but not to describe male homosexuals. Fag is slang for cigarette, and also for a younger student performing menial tasks for an older student in upper-class British boys' schools. Faggoting is a type of needlework, and a faggot is also a kind of English meatball.

During the 19th century, the word faggot was also sometimes used in England to describe women perceived as unpleasant or aggressive, although it carried no connotation of homosexuality. But there is no consensus as to how the word suddenly appeared in the United States in the early 1900s, referring to male homosexuals. Did it refer to the burning of heretics? British schoolboys? Bitchy women? No one really knows.

The actual origins of the word don't matter as much as the intent of the person using it and its impact on the people hearing it. According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, “It is clear that ‘faggot’ is the product of a long legacy of violence and sexism, and carries the pain of that legacy even when used as a general insult.”

It's that legacy that makes a recent comment by CNN's Glenn Beck, who defined faggot as a “naughty name,” so troubling. If nothing else, calling a term routinely used during hate crimes “naughty” is profoundly trivializing. The queer internet buzzed for days about Beck's remark and CNN's response, which basically dismissed the comments as a discussion about the use of the word faggot itself.

Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, refocused the debate where it belongs, and issued a press release that stated, “Beck's obnoxious repetition of the slur — and his flip dismissal of it as simply a ‘naughty name’ — speaks volumes about his appalling ignorance of its impact.”

Out gay blogger John Aravosis wrote on AMERICAblog: “Faggot is the n-word to gays, and you think it's appropriate? Does CNN permit the n-word on the air? And would they permit their hosts to suggest that it's simply a ‘naughty name’? CNN has a host who is a loose cannon and who has already slurred Muslims, gays, and more. But rather than apologize, CNN defends their host who thinks the word ‘faggot’ is appropriate for CNN, and who thinks the word ‘faggot’ is simply a ‘naughty name.’”

CNN isn't alone. USA Today’s Maria Puente recently wrote, “Is a common epithet for homosexuals becoming a new N word, verboten in civil discourse?” This, frankly, begs the question: When wasn't faggot verboten in civil discourse? When Ann Coulter called Al Gore “a total fag” on Hardball this summer, it didn't really matter if she was suggesting the former vice president was gay (she says she wasn't) or just using fag as an all-purpose insult. There's no question her intent was pejorative — not just to Gore, but to all GLBT people, for whom the term carries such negative connotations.

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