Regarding the “sticks & stones” issue, we have discussed this kind of thing before.
Pragmatism vs. idealism. If you say all speech is free, all actions are not then murder is a crime, but conspiracy and recklessness are not (because it’s just words, man!), so all you need to do to get away with murder or negligence causing death is give a command or a suggestion instead of doing it with your own hands.
Restrictions on free speech exist for reasons, both good and bad. It’s all about finding an equilibirum that works for society, and of course that means adapting to changing standards now and then. Whether or not a word (or symbol) is offensive depends on context, and context includes the experiences we’ve all had over the decades.
Fwiw I grew up understanding the word homo to be offensive (homo milk notwithstanding, but that always made people giggle), along with other “abbreviations” like Jap and Germ, so I get why Mr. Cutz finds it vulgar.