I think we've had this thread before a few years ago, I don't use the term but at the same time it doesn't really bother me either, my parents would still use the term retarded or backwards at times but they are not being nasty, that was the term they grew up with, funnily more people would take offence at retarded now than "a sandwich short of a picnic" or similar, my parents still use 'coloured' instead of black as that was the polite way for them, black would have normally been followed by another word beginning with B when my dad was young! Times change and you need to see the context it is used in IMO, that's where the written word on the net can go astray at times.
I might start a thread about picking on gingers now .........