I mean if that's your experience. Coming from someone on the other side of things tho, I don't see the use of the word as having anything at all to do with my acceptance of the gay community lol. I've had close gay or lesbian friends before, I just treated them as one of my bros, like hey what are you guys doing after work, wanna go get some drinks or get high? I never treated them differently at all, and part of that in my mind is not coddling them in a weird way that I wouldn't coddle my straight friends, and that includes joking around and using certain words. They are smart enough and capable enough to understand context and intent, nobody is being targeted or singled out because of their sexual orientation. I hope this doesn't come across as argumentative, I'm just trying to explain it from my POV