Homophobic language is at an all-time high, and being an LGB Young Person is hard enough without having to hear offensive language on a daily basis; whether it is used as an insult or not these words still have impacts.

We should be living in a society where being gay shouldn't be an insult. You wouldn't say 'thats so disabled' or 'stop being so black', so why should we accept it with gay? Using the word gay in this adjective way is homophobic.

If homophobic bullying goes unchallenged in our schools, it can have severe negative consequences for young people.  Homophobic bullying also impacts on young people's self-esteem and ambitions and Stonewall’s Gay and Bisexual Men's Health Guide and Prescription for Change shows that lesbian, gay and bisexual young people are more likely to self-harm and contemplate suicide.

I believe having the word 'Gay' defined as this in the dictionary is adding to the issue; and it really does not have to be listed in there under this ignorant and homophobic habit. We should be challenging homophobic language.

Together, we may be able to remove the informal adjective of the word ‘gay’ from the Oxford Dictionary.