God knows, I use the word freely in positive, negative, and ironic ways. Like on this post for Big Queer. More often than not I use it negatively when someone queer is all closety, e.g. "What a fag. Like we don't know." I rarely use it that way for someone who is gay and not closety. I do like it as a celebratory word, too, especially in the form faggotry. I mean, faggotry just sounds fabulous, like, the movie Shortbus had some awesome faggotry in it, know what I mean?

But then just when I think, oh yeah, saying faggot is fine, some dunderheaded straight cartoon character comes along and starts fagging it up. Like Ann Coulter to much applause. Or Paris Hilton to much derision. This is definitely not okay, right? And I know what you're going to say: they're straight. Of course, it's not okay.

So then what about Green Day? They're all straight (I think), and they use faggot in a way that I think is totally awesome in their song American Idiot. Once again some lyrics:

Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.

If you're not familiar with the song, it's an all-out anti-Bush, anti-War on Terror rant. The lyrics above jump to the conclusion that because Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and his band are against Dubya and his terror meets Terror tactics, they must be the fags that the bigoted right hates so much. Why does this reclamation of the word seem so much more exciting to me than when openly gay Deadlee tries it out?

I've got no conclusion here. In fact, when I try to work it out, I end up thinking in circles. It feels a lot like queer did in the early '90's when Queer Nation was trying to pull that word into the gay mainstream (and, it seems, succeeded). I feel like Justice Potter Stewart in trying to pin down when saying faggot is right or wrong: "I know it when I see it."

Me on par with a stuffy, white Supreme Court Justice? That's so gay...uh, queer...er, faggy...um. Huh. Never mind.