I learned something new today.
TEABAGGER
This word has been used to malign extremists on the right wing. Those same people have derided the term as an affront by claiming it- teabagging- meant some disgusting sexual practice of homosexuals.
Apparently they are half right. The word has an old history within the gay community, but not as a term to describe a sexual act, but rather a term to describe a behavior that led to a sexual act.
On Sundays, the gay community of yore would get together on Sunday afternoons for what became known as a "Tea Party". It was actually a chance for like friends to get together and comingle in the days when homosexuality was frowned upon and usually held in a home.
Eventually, word of these tea parties filtered into the straight community and brought a new participant- the deeply closeted gay. Seeing Sunday afternoon as an easy way to escape the life he had with his wife and children, this new participant would stand quietly off to the side at these parties. Eventually, he'd find the nerve to initiate conversation with a like soul, and the two would disappear to do what they had only dreamed of before.
Much like the lion "bags" his prey, participants at the Sunday tea parties came up with a name for this act of discovery- Teabagger.
Interesting, huh? And not as menacing or disgusting as we thought.
TEABAGGER
This word has been used to malign extremists on the right wing. Those same people have derided the term as an affront by claiming it- teabagging- meant some disgusting sexual practice of homosexuals.
Apparently they are half right. The word has an old history within the gay community, but not as a term to describe a sexual act, but rather a term to describe a behavior that led to a sexual act.
On Sundays, the gay community of yore would get together on Sunday afternoons for what became known as a "Tea Party". It was actually a chance for like friends to get together and comingle in the days when homosexuality was frowned upon and usually held in a home.
Eventually, word of these tea parties filtered into the straight community and brought a new participant- the deeply closeted gay. Seeing Sunday afternoon as an easy way to escape the life he had with his wife and children, this new participant would stand quietly off to the side at these parties. Eventually, he'd find the nerve to initiate conversation with a like soul, and the two would disappear to do what they had only dreamed of before.
Much like the lion "bags" his prey, participants at the Sunday tea parties came up with a name for this act of discovery- Teabagger.
Interesting, huh? And not as menacing or disgusting as we thought.