What gets me, and he can chime in when he reads this is, he knows exactly how I'm using the word. It's usually liberals that break through the "word" taboos anyway - it's always been our side (and I just mean non-conservative, not Dem/Rep) that pushes the lines. Why he's acting like a douche about it I don't know.
Of course you do. He's legitimately offended (or thinks that he
should be offended, or both, only he can really determine that for himself) by a word that has a long and filthy history in the US of being a derogatory word used to refer to homosexuals. The meaning of the word is changing, as English words are wont to do, as homosexuality becomes less and less a social pariah; it's just no longer so insulting to suggest that a guy might like the cock. In fact, the only people who still really get offended by the suggestion of being gay (as opposed to the use of the word "fag") are the homophobes themselves, a fact i find to be deliciously ironic.
He's not required to think it's funny. It'd be nice if he could see the point of view of the comic, but even that isn't required of him. There is a very legitimate reason to react with anger and outrage towards the word "fag," much like the words "nigger," "chink," "spic," and whatever other term has historically been used derisively. I understand completely where he's coming from in that respect.
I just think that things that are offensive are usually funny, that blasphemy tickles me, and that mocking sacred cows and poking fun of social taboos is generally the way to increase general understanding from the unwashed masses. After all, Billy Bob in Arkansas isn't likely to read through one of Rrhain's outraged diatribes, what with Billy's 3rd grade reading ability. But he
is likely to laugh while watching Comedy Central, and making him
laugh about the buttsex is one of the best ways to make him stop
hating it.