SHADES members discussed Wednesday how using derogatory language toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and allies community is offensive.

Tanairy Carbo, an intern for SHADES who hosted the discussion, said that the use of degrading words toward the LGBTQA community is a major issue at Binghamton University.

“It’s something that really needs to be talked about on this campus,” said Carbo, a junior majoring in human development. “I feel like a lot of things on this campus are swept under the rug.”

At the forum, titled “That’s So Gay,” students discussed familiar terms like “no homo” and “lesbehonest.”

“When people say ‘lesbehonest’ and they know that I’m a lesbian, it’s really offensive,” one student said.

Students also discussed the heternormative implications of the word “straight.”

“For me, I try not to use the word ‘straight,’” one student said. “I tend to say heterosexual, because the word ‘straight’ makes it feel like being homosexual is broken when it’s not.”

Attendees debated about members of the LGBTQA community using derogatory terms.

“I have said to my other gay friends, ‘You are such a faggot,’” a student said. “Of course it’s problematic to use the word, but we’re both gay and it’s not like we are trying to hurt one another by using the word.”

Other students disagreed and said that using offensive language makes it seem acceptable for everyone to use. Almost everyone at the talk admitted to using the phrase “that’s so gay” in the past, though students generally agreed that the phrase has become rare after high school.

Students agreed that calling people out if they say “that’s so gay” is important, and noted that it can be handled in a light manner.

“When you hear someone say it, tell them, ‘Come on man, I thought you had a better vocabulary than that,’” one student said.

Students leading the meeting also announced various current events relevant to the LGBTQA community, such as the two gay rights cases before the supreme court and the rumor that reggaeton and hip-hop artist Daddy Yankee announced he is homosexual.

Carbo said that being a part of the LGBTQA community can be an alienating experience.

“Someone in that shadow hearing ‘that’s so gay,’ will make them fall more and more into that shadow, so we provide a space safe for the LGBT community and anyone else who wants to come into our doors,” Carbo said.

According to Jason Seidel, the secretary of SHADES and a sophomore majoring in psychology, weekly meetings and forums such as this one provide a vital service for the LGBTQA community on campus.

“It’s important that we have these meetings every week,” Seidel said. “They give people a voice and also makes it easier to have certain discussions about issues that are very specific to people of color in the LGBT community.”

John Lavelle, a sophomore in the Decker School of Nursing, said the discussion was an eye-opening experience.

“I really enjoyed the event,” he said. “I thought it was nice to hear from the perspective of the LGBT community.”