Honest question. I recently saw it on a members profile and some gay people regularly say it to each other, as merely friendly banter. Does it?

No, it's just a word and it won't have any power over me.

However, I can see why some people would be offended by it.

Nope

To be honest if someone is calling me that word to be offensive I'll get upset, which is why I don't use it in my day-to-day conversations. It does bother me when I hear other gays call themselves or each other that word but then cry about it if they get called it. (if that makes sense)

Not if it's used non-offensively. I know some people do though

A little when its said in a mean way

I don't like when I hear straight people say "fagg", but I will delight in hearing someone spit out the word "fagggot" with sass. I don't know why...something about the extra "ot" just makes it enjoyable.

And when using the term for stan names it can be downright heart-warming. Case in point: Phaggam Labottom.

Not really. I'm guilty of saying it jokingly at times.

It's entirely dependent on the context. Some people (including myself) regularly use the word "******" or the phrase "that's so gay" etc. with no homophobic implications. And then some other people use those words with very homophobic intentions.

It's pretty easy to tell the difference.

I remixed Jay-Z/Kanye's ****** in Paris and since I'm gay I called it "F**gots In Paris"...

I caught a lot of flack for it but like I explained to those people...

I look at it the same way I look at the N word. They were used to bring us down but we took the negative and made a positive out of it.

It's 50/50... if you're trying to be harmful when using it then yes. But there's a right and wrong way to say A LOT of things to certain people so. It's a lose/lose situation.

Naa, unless it's used in a mean way.

Unless its coming from a straight person, no.

It does. Usually anyway.

Though when someone say "****" I usually dont even care. I always found the word silly.

Nope.

Not offended but I still don't like to see it used. It's an ugly word.

Great response. About the "N*ggas" word, that is thread worthy. So much scope and history