a) You seem to know a lot about it.
b) Why are you giving queers the power to decide your language?
c) It's also a common British term for so-called 'redheads'.
/johnny
a) I’m a redhead, and I’m heretosexual, I don’t like the term ‘ginger’. I have a right to object to derogatory labels.
b) Keeping derogatory homosexual american (or british) slang out of “accepted” hetero vocabulary by pointing it out is the point; to ignore it IS to allow homosexuals to dictate “accepted” words in my speech
c) Red hair is genetically predominant in England especially, so even if the word is ‘english slang’ as you claim, I seriouslydoubt the majority population red-headed Brits ever considered it meant as a very-derogatory term to describe themselves as ‘crazy’, as “ginger” is now used and defined within the homosexual community.
below is a list of most of the ‘british slang’ words I grew up hearing and using as a child in a London suburb to refer to people.
http://www.effingpot.com/people.shtml