by N. David Williams Williams-Nichols Collectn Department of Archiv & Special Collectns Universy of Louisville Use of the word "gay" a homosexual ntext may date to as long ago as Paris the late 16th century, when homosexuals were reportedly lled 'gai," but there are a uple of other trigug and perhaps more provable…
Contents:
- THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
- THE ORIG OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ S HOMOSEXUAL NTEXT
- DO "GAY" NECSARILY MEAN MALE HOMOSEXUAL?
- THE E OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ BY PUPILS. WHERE DO WE START??!
- THE 'GAY' WORD: WHAT DO MEAN WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE E NEGATIVELY?
- HOW TO STOP USG THE WORD "GAY" INAPPROPRIATELY
- SYNONYMS OF GAY
- 13 OTHER WORDS FOR GAY YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
- GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
- VOBULARY FOR DISCSG GAY, LGBT ISSU
THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
by Jordan Redman Staff Wrer Do you know what the word gay really means? The word gay dat back to the 12th century and om the Old French “gai,” meang “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Old High German “gahi,” meang impulsive. * the word gay may be used to describe *
For centuri, gay was ed monly speech and lerature to mean happy, reee, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meang until the 1600s.
THE ORIG OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ S HOMOSEXUAL NTEXT
* the word gay may be used to describe *
At that time the meang of gay as reee evolved to imply that a person was unrtraed by morals and prone to nce and promiscuy. In the 1890s, the term “gey t” (a Sttish variant of gay) was ed to scribe a vagrant who offered sexual servic to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and the pany of an olr man. This latter e suggts that the younger man was a sexually submissive role and may be among the first tim that gay was ed implyg a homosexual relatnship.
In 1951, gay appeared the Oxford English Dictnary for the first time as slang for homosexual, but was most likely ed this way “unrground” at least 30 years earlier. ” This le (ad-libbed by Grant) n be terpreted to mean that he was behavg a happy-go-lucky or lighthearted way but is accepted by many as the first e of gay to mean homosexual a mastream movie.
When gay is ed today to mean stupid or unsirable ( has only been ed this way sce the 1990s), rri wh a history of negative judgment and rigid ias about who or what is acceptable. Use of the word “gay” a homosexual ntext may date to as long ago as Paris the late 16th century, when homosexuals were reportedly lled ‘gai, ” but there are a uple of other trigug and perhaps more provable theori. At some pot ladi of the night me to be known as “gay ladi, ” a natural nickname sce “gay” origally meant merry, reee, happy-go-lucky.
DO "GAY" NECSARILY MEAN MALE HOMOSEXUAL?
Armed wh a mera and an overdraft, I ma a documentary about what young people mean by ‘gayns’ and why olr people fd so upsettg * the word gay may be used to describe *
Homosexual Amerin ary personnel wanrg the streets of London durg World War I may have picked up on the phrase and brought back to the Uned Stat after 1918. In Abigail van Buren’s “Dear Abby” advice lumn of Augt 9, 1982 (#721 below), a rear objects to the e of the word “gay” to scribe homosexuals and feels “queer” is more appropriate. Abby rponds that while no one really knows where the word “gay” s homosexual ntext me om, uld have origated across the English Channel.
Around 1920, durg a time when homosexualy was wily nmned, the Amerin homosexual subculture may have started g “gay” as a nvenient word jt to survive. If, for example, a homosexual man were at a party and started nversg wh a man he found attractive, he might throw the word slyly to the nversatn to see how the other man reacted.
THE E OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ BY PUPILS. WHERE DO WE START??!
You've may have heard yourself e the word "gay" appropriately to scribe someone or somethg. Whether you tend to or not, this is offensive and hurtful. Through practice and an creased awarens, you n break this hab, and... * the word gay may be used to describe *
” As a homosexual New Yorker, he undoubtedly unrstood the double entendre, as would have many New York theatergoers, but s meang would have been lost on most dienc the provc. Bis a fleetg reference 1949, the first time the Courier-Journal ed the word s morn ntext was a 1969 display ad for a homosexually-themed Hollywood movie entled The Gay Deceivers. Pri, formerly known as Gay Pri, is a regnn of LGBTQ inty, affirmatn of equal rights, and celebratn of visibily, digny, and diversy the LGBTQ muny.
While the word homosexual is still ocsnally ed some ntexts, you might have noticed that don’t make an appearance any versn of the LGBTQ acronym.
As our age note on the term stat, “up until 1973, homosexualy was listed The Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM), psychiatry’s standard reference on the classifitn of mental illns. And many feel that this word plac undue emphasis on sexual activy, or that sounds overly clil.” In fact, the term homosexual was liberately rejected by early gay rights activists bee, acrdg to The New York Tim, “they did not want to be intified as exclively sexual begs.”.
THE 'GAY' WORD: WHAT DO MEAN WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE E NEGATIVELY?
Synonyms for GAY: animated, active, energetic, animate, lively, brisk, enthiastic, bouncg; Antonyms of GAY: ad, limp, active, animate, lifels, languid, lazy, listls * the word gay may be used to describe *
Gay, on the other hand, n be ed to scribe a person of any genr who experienc same-sex attractn, although is most often ed to scribe a man who is attracted to men. On June 28, 1969, the New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a bar equented by gay and genr-nonnformg people (at a time when terms like LGBTQ didn’t yet exist). Partially rponse to Stonewall, 1970, queer activists New York Cy anized a march to Central Park wh the theme “Gay Pri.” A more prehensive history of the Stonewall Rt or the Stonewall Uprisg n be found our Pri Month explaer.
Queer lerally means “strange or odd om a nventnal viewpot,” and by at least by the late 1800s, queer was ployed as a rogatory term for an effemate or gay man. I was unr the imprsn that gay always refers to a male homosexual, though sometim I see this term ed to scribe female homosexuals (i. Gay n refer to men and women who are sexually attracted to people of the same sex, though lbian only refers to women who are so.
Gay is also an inty term ed to scribe a male-intified person who is attracted to other male-intified people a romantic, sexual, and/or emotnal sense. Homophobia — Homophobia means to have an irratnal fear or tolerance of people who are homosexual or havg feelgs of homosexualy. LGBTQ+ — LBGT is an abbreviatn for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (often ed to enpass sexual preference and genr inti that do not rrpond to heterosexual norms).
HOW TO STOP USG THE WORD "GAY" INAPPROPRIATELY
In need of synonyms for the word "gay"? There are a lot of different terms that n be ed. This article lists 17 terms you need to know about! * the word gay may be used to describe *
LGBTIQAPD – Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer and/or Qutng, Intersex, Asexual and/or Ally, Pansexual, and Demi-sexual.
Use of the word gay to scribe a person, event or object they don’t like or is their mds dysfunctnal n fuel prejudice, exacerbate homophobia and needs challengg.
SYNONYMS OF GAY
This Amerin Psychologist reprt prents suggtns for avoidg heterosexual bias language ncerng lbians, gay men and bisexual persons. * the word gay may be used to describe *
Some pupils will e the word, knowg ’s homophobic though not really appreciatg why, and wh no more malic tent then to be a part of the classroom parlance. Kids who want to sult gays, kids who don’t know who gays are and kids who feel gays are so irrelevant to their life that ‘what’s all the fs about?
When good natured, smart, morally sound pupils e the word ‘gay’ to scribe somethg that is bad and genuely e for that reason we n see how visible LGB people have bee the world for them.
13 OTHER WORDS FOR GAY YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
A word that origally meant happy and reee beme a ntral label to scribe homosexualy, and end up beg a term ed to ppot somethg people don’t like, fd embarrassg, or want to distance themselv do this mean that young people are more homophobic than ever before? “But ’s very hard for people who heard ‘gay’ as beg solely homophobic, like I did growg up, to see that n mean somethg different to a different generatn. “The problem wh sayg ‘that’s so gay’ is that even though you and your iends might know you’re not beg homophobic, if you’re g a public or semi-public space, other people might see you as homophobic, ” he jt my stunt overdraft as my budget, I cid to make a documentary explorg how this piece of language had evolved, and speak to people both gay and straight to see how they felt aboutthe word takg on a negative gay people I spoke to were ntent wh the word evolvg, while there were straight people who were outraged.
GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
Younger people, whom we might have expected to have more awarens of what means to intify as gay bee of media verage, were often the mographic fendg the negative e of this olr people I spoke to felt strongly that should not be allowed to be ed negatively. The language we e, nscly or subnscly, n reflect our feelgs towards “rgh, that’s gay” reveals a lack of llective unrstandg of what means to intify as gay.
VOBULARY FOR DISCSG GAY, LGBT ISSU
Equal marriage legislatn may suggt that society has advanced s thkg, but there remas a gap s grasp of gay inty, culture and the week leadg up to the premiere of my documentary, The Gay Word, s trailer was shown a London cema. Staff noticed how the dience’s body language often shifted and beme awkward on jt seeg the word gay projected on Soho, I hand out stickers promotg the film and reactns were mixed.
One sendary school teacher told me staff often “turn a bld eye” to behavur that may be makg gay pupils feel unfortable at young people I met while makg this film told me that school is tough and not a place they n flourish. The word “gay” seems to have s origs around the 12th century England, rived om the Old French word ‘gai’, which turn was probably rived om a Germanic word, though that isn’t pletely known. Fast-forward to the 19th century and the word gay referred to a woman who was a prostute and a gay man was someone who slept wh a lot of women (ironilly enough), often prostut.
In terms of the sexual meang of the word, a “gay man” no longer jt meant a man who had sex wh a lot of women, but now started to refer to men who had sex wh other men. Gay men themselv seem to have been behd the drivg thst for this new fn as they felt (and many still do), that “homosexual” is much too clil, soundg like a disorr.