Odd to see England confused by this term, considering it started applying to gay males in English boarding schools.
British boys boarding schools in the 18th and 19th centuries were quite nasty little places, and the boys were largely unsupervised except when in classes. Chores had to be done, and the least liked chores got pushed off onto the smallest and youngest students. Collecting firewood (literal faggots of wood) involved going outside in the cold in bad weather, and so was universally disliked. Much as blacksmiths became surnamed "Smith" and those who made pots got named "Potter", the smallest boys who got stuck with the task of fetching wood became known as "the faggot".
Now, put a bunch of rough boys going through puberty in a prison-like dorms with no supervision... before the inventions of easily distributable porn... and they will FIND something to stick their penises into. Typically this would be the smallest, youngest boys, least able to defend themselves, a.k.a. the school's "faggot".
And so the meaning of the term migrated from "firewood fetcher" to "small boy who cries into pillows while being raped" to "willing anal recipient".
I think we know less about how the term "fag" (for a bundle of sticks intended for firewood) came to be used for cigarettes in Britain. I mean, granted, both end up lit on fire, but that's about the only commonality.
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Odd to see England confused by this term, considering it started applying to gay males in English boarding schools.
British boys boarding schools in the 18th and 19th centuries were quite nasty little places, and the boys were largely unsupervised except when in classes. Chores had to be done, and the least liked chores got pushed off onto the smallest and youngest students. Collecting firewood (literal faggots of wood) involved going outside in the cold in bad weather, and so was universally disliked. Much as blacksmiths became surnamed "Smith" and those who made pots got named "Potter", the smallest boys who got stuck with the task of fetching wood became known as "the faggot".
Now, put a bunch of rough boys going through puberty in a prison-like dorms with no supervision... before the inventions of easily distributable porn... and they will FIND something to stick their penises into. Typically this would be the smallest, youngest boys, least able to defend themselves, a.k.a. the school's "faggot".
And so the meaning of the term migrated from "firewood fetcher" to "small boy who cries into pillows while being raped" to "willing anal recipient".
I think we know less about how the term "fag" (for a bundle of sticks intended for firewood) came to be used for cigarettes in Britain. I mean, granted, both end up lit on fire, but that's about the only commonality.