1. “Straight pride”
Unfortunate usage: “The Pride Parade is great fun, isn’t it? We should have a straight pride festival”.
The Gay Pride movement grew out of a fight for the right to exist without persecution, not as a celebration. Advocating for “straight pride”, even when offered in terms of support and appreciation for Gay Pride events, causes offence.
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2. “Wheelchair-bound”
Unfortunate usage: “Kanye West told a wheelchair-bound fan to stand up at his gig…”
As Meriah Nichols on TheMighty.com points out, nobody is “bound” to wheelchair.
The wheel actually liberates the person who rides in it – it’s enabling, it’s access.
The correct term? Wheelchair user.
3. “Rapey”
Unfortunate usage: “Your new moustache makes your looks SO rapey”
Using rapey as an adjective for a person, place or thing is not okay. Keep rape references in context or else you risk making a serious crime trivial.
4. “Go gay/turn gay”
Unfortunate usage: “That new character in OITNB is so hot, I’d turn for her”
Sexuality is not a choice, so saying that you would or could “turn gay” for someone is offensive.
5. “Some of my best friends are…”
Unfortunate usage: “Some of my best friends are black”
This is a phrase often used in an argument in an attempt to claim knowledge about a particular group within society, but noting that they have friends in that particular group which therefore absolves them of homophobia or racism or similar. It doesn’t.
See also: “I’m not racist but…”
6. “OCD”
Unfortunate usage: “Oh I like things tidy, I’m a bit OCD”
OCD is a serious and debilitating condition which goes far beyond wanting things to be a bit neat. We all have our quirks but living with OCD can obstruct people from living their lives in a normal way.
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7. #NotAllMen
Unfortunate usage: “#NotAllMen rape you know. Don’t tar us all with the same brush”.
Dismissing an issue like violence against women perpetrated by men with a “not all men” argument does just that; it dismisses the issue, and it derails it.
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