The Gist

Yes, Pansy = Faggot

Gov. Easley of North Carolina should issue an apology and clarification -- and so should the Clinton campaign. When he endorsed Hillary Clinton this a.m. he said Rocky Balboa was a "pansy" compared to her. I'm sure he doesn't even realize that the word is a slur for gay men, and thinks it's more like "wimp" or "sissy." I think those words are troubling too, however, particularly "sissy." What else are people trying to say when they use these words but that a man is not a "true" man -- that he is womanlike, and thus a little light in the loafers, or, plain and simple, queer. All of this language is sexist and misogynistic if not outright homophobic.

And really, "pansy" has been used to specifically mean gay: There's a McCarthy Era antigay book called Washington Confidential,which has a chapter on the state department and the homosexuals throughout it and the chapter is titled, "A Garden of Pansies." Look in any dictionary and you'll see "pansy" described as a pejorative for gay.

This is not, however, a huge deal or some grand example of vicious homophobia, as some of the zealous Obama supporters on some of the gay and liberal blogs are screeching about. You wonder in fact if they'd be saying anything if it was an Obama supporter who made the comments. (Some of these blogs haven't even mentioned the 24/7 several-day Rev. Wright controversy until now, after Obama finally spoke up, but they are posting like crazy on Easley's remarks and how it means Clinton condones homophobia and how it supposedly is another example of how she eats puppies for breakfast). I don't think he meant "gay." He's ignorant, like a lot of other people, and needs to be brought up to speed and made to clarify and apologize.