Of course. Society is constantly changing, as is the composition and education of society. And as a result, language changes. This is the same philosophy I take with someone’s preferred pronouns – it costs me nothing to use the right words. So long as unintentional mistakes are overlooked, and I’ve never seen someone get angry about unintentionally misgendering, I’m totally fine with it.

It comes down to this. If someone is uncomfortable with something you’ve done, and it’s something as simple as word choice, why not accommodate them? Why not let them be comfortable at no cost to you? The exact same principle goes for what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

It really isn’t that much work for someone to say “gay person” or “LGBTQ people” instead of queer. Changing your terminology every 20 years isn’t rocket science. Look at it this way, if Eminem can censor himself and apologize for saying f*g, I think the rest of us can make the effort too.

(Eminem’s thoughts are actually really interesting here. He points out he doesn’t mean it as a slur at all, and that while he was growing up it was a general insult in rap, not constantly used as a slur. All the same, he’s still used it less and less over the years. )

Yes, that is the nature of language. We don’t speak like Shakespeare anymore either, imagine that. Queer people was offensive 20 years ago because it was mostly used as a slur then by bigots. It’s not as offensive now because queer people reclaimed it and it is mostly used by them to refer to themselves. They have generally expressed that they are more comfortable with it because of that. “Coloured people” is still used mostly by racists, while “people of colour” is commonly used by non-white people to refer to themselves. In each example an important factor is how the group being referred to feels about a particular term. Most black people have made it pretty clear that they don’t like being called “coloured people”, especially not by white conservatives, but they generally don’t mind the term “people of colour”. So if you have to use one or the other, the one that you know they don’t like is probably not the safe bet.

It was the “correct” term for POC towards the end of slavery and through the Jim Crowe era. Bathrooms, Pool, Water Fountains, etc. were often labeled “Whites” and “Coloreds”. Segregation is a major part of history most of this country tries to forget, and absolutely doesn’t broadcast.

You don’t think that was his intention, huh? Based on what?

“As a politician he should know better” - now, more than ever, “politician” doesn’t speak to any basic standard met or level of qualification. A person who isn’t a racist doesn’t use that phrase today casually because they understand the negative connotation.