should we reclaim the word 'faggot'?

[Fearless]

9. I think that the idea behind "reclaiming" words

Is that its up to the individual who feels that this is the thing that should be done. Clearly some words have a more hurtful historic affect on our population and it would take a generation of our people who have not been affected by these words in such a way to overcome the stigma attached to them. Will it happen? Perhaps. But I'd hazard to guess that since we generally have several words already to call ourselves, that it will more likely just become a word that loses uses instead of gains new use. Unless of course we find a specific difference between that word and the others that we can use to our benefit-- like the difference between gay and queer. If both meant exactly the same thing, the words would not both be used by and large. IMHO of course.