Gay

Until several decades ago, the word gay meant something like "jolly" or "mirthful", as in the French gai. In contemporary usage, however, that meaning is uncommon nowadays; the term is usually synonymous with "homosexual." When referring to a group of people, the term often means "male homosexual" — if gay women are referred to, the word "lesbian" is often used instead.

Usage and terminology

Overview article: Terminology of homosexuality

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Some people reject the term "homosexual" as an identity-label because they find it too clinical-sounding, too focused on physical acts rather than romance or attraction, or too reminicent of the era when homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Some people find the term "gay" to be offensive or reject it as an identity-label because they perceive the cultural connotations to be undesirable, or because of the negative connotations of the slang usage of the word. Sexual orientation, behavior, and self-identification are not necessarily aligned in a clear-cut fashion for a given individual. For example, someone can engage in same-sex behavior, but not self-identify as "gay". See sexual orientation for a discussion of these complexities. See sex for a discussion of the complexities surrounding the concepts of sex and gender.

Related Topics:
Sexual orientation - Sex

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Sometimes the term "gay" is used to describe both male-male and female-female relations. More rarely, it is used as a shorthand for "gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.", sometimes including transgendered, transsexual, and possibly intersexual (some intersexuals find this offensive). It is very commonly used to refer specifically to gay men; the precise meaning may need to be made clear from context. The term lesbian is more unambiguously female.

Related Topics:
Transgendered - Transsexual - Intersexual - Lesbian

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"Gay" as a descriptor

The term "gay" can also be used as an adjective to describe things related to gay people or things which are part of gay culture. For example, while a gay bar is not itself a homosexual, using "gay" as an adjective to describe the bar indicates that the bar is either gay oriented, caters primarily to gay men, or is otherwise part of gay culture.

Related Topics:
Gay culture - Gay bar

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Using the term "gay" as an adjective where the meaning is akin to "related to gay people, culture, or homosexuality in general" is an accurate usage of the word. This is much different from using "gay" in the pejorative sense, where the use of the word is meant to describe something solely as negative, and not describing any of the characteristic qualities of gay men or gay culture.

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"Gay" as a pejorative

When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that hat is so gay"), the term "gay" is purely pejorative and can be deeply offensive. The derogatory implication is that the object (or person) in question is inferior, weak, effeminate, or stupid.

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This usage has its origins in the 1990s, when homosexuality was widely known about but still taboo. Today, the usage is common among young people, who may or may not link the term to homosexuality, much as some people may not intentionally link the term "jew down" (to talk down in price) to Jewish people, or "I was gypped" (I was cheated) to Gypsies.

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Other spellings, such as "ghey" and "ghei", are sometimes found on the Internet and are supposedly used either to insult without reference to homosexuality or to bypass chat room censors. See also: fag.

Related Topics:
Internet - Chat room - Fag

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Use of "homosexual"

According to the Safe Schools Coalition of Washington's Glossary for School Employees:

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:"Homosexual: Avoid this term; it is clinical, distancing and archaic. Sometimes appropriate in referring to behavior (although same-sex is the preferred adj.). When referring to people, as opposed to behavior, homosexual is considered derogatory and the terms "gay and lesbian are preferred, at least in the Northwest ."

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However, some same-sex oriented persons actually prefer the term homosexual to gay, seeing the former as describing a sexual orientation and the latter as describing a cultural or socio-political group with which they do not identify 1.

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"Sexual orientation" vs. "sexual preference"

The term "sexual orientation" is now widely considered superior to "sexual preference", because the word "preference" implies that attraction to members of the same sex is a choice, an assertion many people consider false.

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