The Silent Fag

It's in interesting word. My question is, when did it become beep-worthy? There was a time on television when anyone, conservative columnist or otherwise, could safely use the word faggot (or the less formal fag) without worrying about the impending beep. Who decides when a word has crossed that line? Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I like the good old days, when fags were allowed on TV.