[quote name='javeryh']It's not a race (duh) but calling something "gay" to be derrogatory is a racist-like remark and is really a classless thing to say. It's the equivalent of calling someone who is cheap a "jew" or something - that's not a race either but it is clearly offensive.[/QUOTE]
Well, if you ask me, a race is nothing more than a readily available set of visual characteristics (acquired from birth) that are comprised in one classification.
100 years ago, Jews were certainly a race. So were the Irish, Italians, Polish, Danes, etc. When did they stop being a race? My short conclusion: race is a *complete* (and I do mean complete) social construction. Are "Asians" a race, or are Japanese separate from Filipinos, separate from Koreans, ad nauseum?
EDIT: Don't get me started on hispanics, either. Just ask any person claiming to be hispanic who has filled out a US census form.
Nevertheless, back to the main point, using the word "gay" to describe something is everything javeryh succinctly said, but it's also totally uncreative. It shows that you lack the cognitive ability to say something really interesting, mean, or hurtful. It means that not only are you dumb, but boring to boot. It's also bigotry, which allows us to escape this asinine conversation about how this is "racist" to begin with.