From “gay” to “poofter” to “fairy” - the words ed by others to fe gay people n say a great al more about them than .
Contents:
FLEMG’S FAGGOTS, GAYS AND QUEERS
Subs Lookg For Doms (gay Men Only) - For both subs and doms. Any age. But Gays only!! Leave ments and fd the man for you. * gay faggot *
New rears of Flemg’s Bond novels may be surprised to read words which have shifted meang sce Ian Flemg ed them the 1950s and early 1960s, particularly words associated wh homosexualy: ‘faggot’, ‘gay’ and ‘queer’.
And even if I wasn’t ready to apply the label ‘gay’ to myself, that didn’t stop the playground bulli. Md you, most thgs were ‘gay’ when I was growg up the 1980s and 1990s, even if they had no romantic tert people of the same sex. Thgs that were ‘gay’ clud a bbish pair of traers (Hi-Tec was the brand most guaranteed to get you bullied my school).
Even geography homework was ‘gay’ acrdg to some people my class, those who didn’t share my passn for workg out six figure grid ‘gay’ as an adjective to scribe somethg that was bbish was rerd some Amerin distnari as early as 1978 but not rerd wh this new meang the Oxford English Dictnary until 2003. I have on good thory (my own) that ‘gay’ was beg ed a slur Brish playgrounds the late 1980s, at least fifteen years before was dified the Oxford English Dictnary. It took a long time for guardians of the wrten word to tton on to the ‘gay’ = bbish meang.
SUBS LOOKG FOR DOMS (GAY MEN ONLY)
The meang of FAGGOT is a gay person—ed as a term of abe and disparagement. * gay faggot *
I me across the word ‘gay’ very equently, part bee of my predilectn for fictn wrten the middle of the 20th Century - addn to Flemg I read a lot of Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton, all thors who have had the label ‘problematic’ applied to them recent years, ually bee of their treatment of race, sex and genr, ls so sexual orientatn. The thors seemed to be unambiguoly g the word ‘gay’ the sense of ‘happy’ or ‘bright’, a meang that dat back to the first of the 14th Century.
Even if I tried to skim past ‘gay’ would threaten to suck me , like a whirlpool draggg a ship exorably down, down, down.
* gay faggot *
They weren’t even talkg about homosexuals. They were g ‘gay’ to mean ‘happy’ or ‘bright’. Move on ’s only years later, as an out and proud gay man, that I found the urage to slow down whenever I me across the word ‘gay’ and exame s age ntext.
Although I’d prevly been ntent to wre off Flemg’s e of ‘gay’ as archaic, now I wasn’t so equency wh which Flemg the word ‘gay’ his novels vari nsirably. Here is each tle prented chronologil publitn orr alongsi the number of tim they feature the word 'gay’. I have not clud the two llectns of short stori bee the dividual stori were wrten at different tim across Flemg’s Bond output om 1952 until 1965:Caso Royale - 8 Live and Let Die - 1Moonraker - 1Diamonds Are Forever - 1From Rsia, Wh Love - 6Dr No - 1Goldfger - 0Thunrball - 9The Spy Who Loved Me - 5On Her Majty’s Secret Service - 12 You Only Live Twice - 2The Man Wh The Goln Gun - 1I expected there to be a clearer pattern, wh Flemg g ‘gay’ wh creasg equency as the language changed around him.