this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2025
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Kurt turned 19 in 1986, saying someone was gay was definitely a reference to sexuality just as much as it is now. And sadly, it's still a slur in certain circles. Given the way Kurt always talked about gay rights (once explicitly said that racists, homophobes, and misogynist shouldn't show up to his shoes), it's at least fairly likely this is meant to be some dumbass faux-deep "gay means happy AND homosexual" 19-year-old shit imo. I mean that's also prime growing-up-and-becoming-a-non-asshole years so it's also perfectly likely it's just straight up shitty! But also Kurt was punk adjacent and dumbass subversive comments are extremely punk. Hard to tell without talking to the guy.
So nah I don't really think it did mean the opposite? It was still a reference to sexuality and could be positive or negative in tone. The likelihood of either from a random person has changed but Kurt is a bit of a known quantity on this topic.
What I meant was more that "gay" (sexuality) was likely to be an insult when used like this back then, but is likely to be a compliment when used like this today (as in "god is gay, hell yeah"). But thanks for the context, that's interesting!
Cheers, makes sense. I just woke up so I read "mean the opposite" as referring specifically to the word gay, not the phrase.
Kurt Cobain 1986 (Colorized)