There's actually still quite the debate going on, with Goddard admitting themselves that the text could have easily been mistranslated.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201139.html
Even then, words people create to refer to themselves doesn't make it incapable of being turned derogatory against them. Most attribute the gay community for the term queer in the sense of referring to themselves, but that hasn't stopped it from being used in a derogatory fashion. Language changes over time.
It's like if somebody used your name to be synonymous with messing up or acting dumb and it caught on in your friendship circle. At the root your name was not a disparaging term, but that doesn't change the fact that it's being used as such NOW.