They're just words at the end of the day. People say all sorts of dumb things during their lives and particularly when experiencing stress or strong emotions.
I don't believe in punishing people and condemning them to misery over isolated incidents.
Some people get extremely offended by such words, certainly. Yet as a gay guy myself if someone insulted me based on my sexuality and it wasn't explicitly targeted in such a manner I'd just shrug and move on with my life.
Most of this recent trend of people being offended is coming from grifters and narcissists who stand to profit, at any rate. Either financially or through being seen as virtuous in the eyes of their peers...or both.
History works in cycles, at any rate. I just hope that the pendulum doesn't swing too far in the opposite direction once the masses tire of supporting this sort of nonsense. I believe most people just want to get on with their lives without other people serving as curtain twitchers in an effort to find something to get others in trouble over.