Gay jokes... when do they stop being funny?

[Jephael]

Does it ever bother you when people make comments about your favorite characters being gay? Once in a while isn't too bad but if someone starts joking about it on a regular basis, it can get pretty annoying and sometimes downright disrespectful.

[Raphael]

The problem with humour, almost any humour, is that it's based in ridicule.  We've all laughed at a blonde joke, or a joke about GWB, or a joke about Britney or Paris, or a joke about rednecks from the deep south...but how does the blonde, or GWB, or Britney or Paris or someone from Tennessee feel?

While it's funny to some, it's offensive to others. And a lot of people don't get that it's offensive, or they just don't care.  This is even more true when they're ridiculing something that's fictional or someone seemingly beyond reach, like a celebrity or politician.

If the joker is someone you know, tell them you're offended (although you will risk them saying "Well, it's not like we were saying it about a real person, it's just a fictional character").  If it's someone on tv/radio...stop watching/listening. Or just shrug it off and say "Well, that's the opinion of someone else, I don't care."

[Aignatius]

Does it ever bother you when people make comments about your favorite characters being gay? Once in a while isn't too bad but if someone starts joking about it on a regular basis, it can get pretty annoying and sometimes downright disrespectful.

I only get annoyed when it's constantly shoved into my face. Then, it's smackdown time.

Just kidding. Sort of. Well hey, they asked for it...  

[Leonardo the 2nd]

If my friends make little jokes of it, I often smiles with them, because I know that they don't mean it bad.

I only am on edge, if there are verdicts that are meant seriously..something like: "I really don't understand why you like the turtles that much. They are just for kids".

[Brandatello]

i tell ppl im obsessed with tmnt they say im gay which sucks....
it hurts my feelings....
thats why ive been tring to ween myself off of tmnt...
i did this awhile back it work but when i found out the turtles were going to the future i came back to them...
now im back obsessed and you know what i dont care what ppl think...
i say eff them...
i mean why even listen to them...
they try to tell me "oh casey is gay why do you think he havent hooked up with april" and im like
" u need to stick with the times in the future we found out they got married and had kids and so on..."
then they shut up..

[Raphael]

Personally, I think that anyone who has spent any amount of time thinking about whether or not Casey, or the Turtles, or whoever is/are gay, just so that they can make fun of someone else...either:

1) has homophobe issues
2) secretly likes the TMNT or whatever and are trying to hide it
3) has no right to ridicule a fan, since they're spending as much time thinking about whichever as the fan is
4) is in serious need of a life
5) is the one that really needs to grow up

Quite possibly, 6) All of the above.

Next time someone says the Turtles (or whatever) is gay, ask 'em how they know...and why they've spent their time thinking about it.

[Aignatius]

And why does everything have to be called gay nowadays. When I was growing up, (a naiive time) it meant happy and brightly coloUred.    
Though in Victorian times, gay was a slang term for someone who was promiscuous and of low morals.  
Victorian times were rife with hypocrisy....

[Leonardo]

Where the line is a tricky thing. Everyone has different comfort levels.
I've known some gay friends who liked to make jokes about it, too. And seen one who the mildest edge of hearing a gay joke was highly offended.
I've known blondes who laughed at those jokes even collected them in a way, and some who went on the warpath instantly.
And so on.

I guess on one hand, we shouldn't take ourselves so seriously we can't laugh. But if something is said deliberately just to put someone else down, be mean spirited, spiteful, or hurtful, then it's not a joke. Ever.

[Terri]

A joke stops being funny when others stop laughing at it.  It's that simple.  I stopped letting small things like that bother me a long time ago.  If someone wants to make fun of me for whatever reason...who cares?  People who belittle others are a waste of space and i'm not about to let someone like that bother me.  As for someone making fun of your favorite character(s) and calling them gay, don't let it bother you.  Same rules apply, it's just babble coming from a moron who doesn't know better.  Don't let someone like that bother you.  The End.