How ‘gay’ got s rabow: What once meant merry is now a badge of inty for homosexuals | Latt News India - Hdtan Tim

Contents:

• THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
• THE ORIG OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ S HOMOSEXUAL NTEXT
• GAY (ADJ.)
• THE ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘GAY’
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• HOW ‘GAY’ GOT S RABOW: WHAT ONCE MEANT MERRY IS NOW A BADGE OF INTY FOR HOMOSEXUALS HDTAN TIM | BYPOULOMI BANERJEE SEP 21, 2018 04:18 PM IST SHARE VIA COPY LK THE DICTNARY TRAC THE ORIG OF GAY TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. BUT HOW DID SOMETHG THAT MEANT CHEERFUL BEE SYNONYMO WH HOMOSEXUALS, WHO HAVE HAD TO FIGHT LONG AND HARD FOR THEIR INTY? IF (ISDEVICEENABLED('SMALL') || ISDEVICEENABLED('MEDIUM') && !ADFREE) { (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1524814893923-0'); }); } ON THURSDAY, AS THE SUPREME COURT CRIMALISED HOMOSEXUALY, READG DOWN THE NTROVERSIAL BRISH-ERA SECTN 377 OF THE PENAL , MUMBAI-BASED ARNAB NANDY TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPRS HIS JOY, AS MANY ACROSS THE UNTRY AND THE WORLD WERE DOG. “I AM SO GAY TODAY…” HE WROTE A G-OUT POST THAT HAS SCE GONE VIRAL. BUT WHILE NANDY’S CHOICE OF WORD WAS BANG ON THAT DAY, HOW DID A WORD THAT HAD ORIGALLY MEANT LIGHT-HEARTED, REEE OR CHEERFUL, BEE ASSOCIATED WH A MUNY WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN OFTEN BEEN ANYTHG BUT? CARY GRANT AND KATHARE HEPBURN THE 1938 FILM BRGG UP BABY, WHERE GRANT ED THE WORD ‘GAY’ ON SCREEN. OPN IS DIVID THOUGH, ON WHETHER HE ED TO MEAN HOMOSEXUAL OR HAPPY AND CHEERFUL.(ALAMY STOCK PHOTO) THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTNARY TRAC THE HISTORY OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. MERRIAM WEBSTER TAK FURTHER BACK TO A GERMANIC ORIG “AK TO THE OLD HIGH GERMAN GAHI” THAT MEANT “QUICK OR SUDN”. ACRDG TO BOTH DICTNARI, ENGLISH THE E OF ‘GAY’ TO MEAN HAPPY, EXCED, MERRY, REEE OR BRIGHT STARTED THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERD THAT STRETCH BETWEEN THE 12TH AND THE 16TH CENTURY. ALL FOR AN INTY WHILE SOME BOOKS AND WEBS ON THE HISTORY OF THE GLOBAL HOMOSEXUAL MOVEMENT CLAIM THE WORD GAY WAS ED AS A SECRET BY HOMOSEXUALS TO INTIFY THEMSELV EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, PROFSOR ASHLEY TELLIS SAYS “ WAS THE 1960S THAT THE WORD ME TO BE POPULARLY ASSOCIATED WH THE MUNY”. R RAJ RAO, WRER AND PROFSOR OF ENGLISH AT PUNE UNIVERSY, ADDS: “THE STONEWALL RTS (A SERI OF VLENT NONTATNS BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY AND THE POLICE NEW YORK 1969) ARE THE BEGNG OF MOST GAY-RIGHTS MOVEMENTS THE WORLD. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT THE MUNY STARTED G THE WORD GAY TO INTIFY SELF. IN THE BEGNG, GAY WAS ALSO AN ACRONYM FOR ‘GOOD AS YOU’.” IN INDIA, WHILE TELLIS SAYS THE E OF THE WORD GAY TO MEAN HOMOSEXUALS STARTED THE 1970S AND ’80S WH INDIAN MEN WHO TRAVELLED TO THE WT AND ME BACK, RAO AND WRER HOSHANG MERCHANT SAY THE WORD STARTED GETTG ED HERE THE 1990S AFTER THE SETTG UP OF BOMBAY DOST, THE UNTRY’S FIRST LGBT MAGAZE, BY ACTIVIST ASHOK ROW KAVI. GLOBALLY, THE MUNY PREFERRED GAY TO HOMOSEXUAL, SAYS TELLIS, BEE THE LATTER HAD A NEGATIVE FEEL TO – WAS A MORE CLIL TERM, SUGGTIVE OF A MEDIL NDN. AS AN ARTICLE ON THE WEBSE OF THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICE MENTNS, WAS ONLY 1980 THAT HOMOSEXUALY WAS LETED OM THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTIL MANUAL OF THE AMERIN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATN, TH CHANGG THE VIEW THAT WAS A BEHAVURAL DISORR. ““WHEREAS HOMOSEXUALY IS JT A WORD NOTG A SEXUAL PREFERENCE OR TENNCY AND ED ROGATORILY, GAY IS AN INTY. EVER SCE STONEWALL, SEXUAL POLICS HAD E TO PLAY AND INTIFYG AS GAY WAS A WAY FOR THE MUNY TO BE A PART OF THAT POLICS,” SAYS RAO. “IT WAS A SUBVERSN OF THE TABLISHED VOBULARY BY THE MUNY. THE SAME WAY THAT ‘QUEER’ WOULD BE ED, LATER ON,” HE ADDS. “WHILE THE NVENTNAL MEANG OF QUEER IS WEIRD, AND IS A DISCRIMATORY TERM SELF, THE MUNY HAS BEEN G AS AN INTY,” HE POTS OUT. THE LGBTQ HAVE THEIR OWN VOBULARY, ONE THAT OFTEN VARI OM CY TO CY, AND HAS TAKEN ON REGULAR WORDS THAT MEAN SOMETHG QUE DIFFERENT WHEN APPLIED TO THEMSELV OR ED WH THE MUNY, SAYS ASHOK ROW KAVI. “IN BOMBAY FOR EXAMPLE, THE LGBTQ MUNY THE WORD ‘GHODI’ TO MEAN A PLACLOTH POLICEMAN,” HE EXPLAS. A NEW USE

THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”

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. 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.

THE ORIG OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ S HOMOSEXUAL NTEXT

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. 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.

GAY (ADJ.)

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 ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘GAY’

” 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. ) begs to appear psychologil wrg the late 1940s, evintly picked up om gay slang and not always easily distguished om the olr sense:After discharge A. He was not happy at the farm and went to a Wtern cy where he associated wh a homosexual crowd, beg "gay, " and wearg female cloth and makp.

HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO

240]The associatn wh (male) homosexualy likely got a boost om the term gay t, ed as far back as 1893 Amerin English for "young hobo, " one who is new on the road, also one who sometim do jobs. "A Gay Cat, " said he, "is a loafg laborer, who works maybe a week, gets his wag and vagabonds about huntg for another 'pick and shovel' job.

Gay ts were severely and celly abed by "real" tramps and bums, who nsired them "an ferr orr of begs who begs of and otherwise preys upon the bum — as were a jackal followg up the kg of beasts" [Prof. McCook, "Tramps, " "The Public Treatment of Pperism, " 1893], but some acunts report certa olr tramps would domate a gay t and employ him as a sort of slave. In "Soclogy and Social Rearch" (1932-33) a paragraph on the "gay t" phenomenon not, "Homosexual practic are more mon than rare this group, " and gey t "homosexual boy" is attted Noel Erske's 1933 dictnary of "Unrworld & Prison Slang" (gey is a Sttish variant of gay) "Dictnary of Amerin Slang" reports that gay (adj.

Rawson ["Wicked Words"] not a male prostute g gay reference to male homosexuals (but also to female prostut) London's notor Cleveland Street Sndal of 1889. Ayto ["20th Century Words"] lls attentn to the ambiguo e of the word the 1868 song "The Gay Young Clerk the Dry Goods Store, " by U. [John Boswell, "Christiany, Social Tolerance, and Homosexualy, " 1980]As a teen slang word meang "bad, ferr, unsirable, " whout reference to sexualy, om (n.

FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS

It’s Pri Month and one of the most lourful words the English language – wh more makeovers than Madonna and more dramatic life stori than Liza Mnelli – is the word ‘gay’! Like every hero, ‘gay’ has an orig story, but even today, scholars are disagreement over the precise journey took to reach the level of fame (or famy) mands nowadays. Sometime between the 11th and late 15th centuri, ‘gai’ crossed the English Channel and end up as ‘gay’, but kept s French meangs – ‘cheerful’, ‘happy’, ‘merry’, and ‘lively’.

By the 1970s, the term ‘gay man’ had bee firmly entrenched s current meang, referrg only to ‘homosexual men’, which was a far cry om jt a hundred years earlier, when meant ‘womaniser’ or ‘sexually unhibed man’.

’ This age is found most often among younger mal North Ameri/the UK and rearch shows that young men wh iends the LGBTQ+ muny e the word ‘gay’ a much ls pejorative way than those whout.

FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

From a wanrg Germanic word meang ‘quick’, evolved first to ‘cheerful’, then ‘sexually unhibed’, before fally g to mean ‘homosexual’. The term gay is equently ed as a synonym for homosexual; female homosexualy is often referred to as different tim and different cultur, homosexual behavur has been varly approved of, tolerated, punished, and banned.

Homosexualy was not unmon ancient Greece and Rome, and the relatnships between adult and adolcent mal particular have bee a chief foc of Wtern classicists recent years.

Others—om factns wh mastream Prottantism to anizatns of Reform rabbis—have advoted, on theologil as well as social grounds, the full acceptance of homosexuals and their relatnships.

FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'

Morn velopments Attus toward homosexualy are generally flux, partially as a rult of creased polil activism (see gay rights movement) and efforts by homosexuals to be seen not as aberrant personali but as differg om “normal” dividuals only their sexual orientatn. The nflictg views of homosexualy—as a variant but normal human sexual behavur on one hand, and as psychologilly viant behavur on the other—rema prent most societi the 21st century, but they have been largely rolved ( the profsnal sense) most veloped untri.

The Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, for example, classified “ego-syntonic homosexualy” (the ndn of a person ntent wh his or her homosexualy) as a mental illns 1973. Nohels, some relig groups ntue to emphasize reparative therapy the attempt to “cure” homosexualy through prayer, unselg, and behavur modifitn.

Selected theori of homosexualy Psychologists the 19th and 20th centuri, most of whom classified homosexualy as a form of mental illns, veloped a variety of theori on s orig. Together wh a growg acceptance of homosexualy as a mon exprsn of human sexualy, long-standg beliefs about homosexuals had begun to lose crence. The stereotyp of male homosexuals as weak and effemate and lbians as mascule and aggrsive, which were wispread the Wt as recently as the 1950s and early ’60s, have largely been disrd.

HOW ‘GAY’ GOT S RABOW: WHAT ONCE MEANT MERRY IS NOW A BADGE OF INTY FOR HOMOSEXUALS HDTAN TIM | BYPOULOMI BANERJEE SEP 21, 2018 04:18 PM IST SHARE VIA COPY LK THE DICTNARY TRAC THE ORIG OF GAY TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. BUT HOW DID SOMETHG THAT MEANT CHEERFUL BEE SYNONYMO WH HOMOSEXUALS, WHO HAVE HAD TO FIGHT LONG AND HARD FOR THEIR INTY? IF (ISDEVICEENABLED('SMALL') || ISDEVICEENABLED('MEDIUM') && !ADFREE) { (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1524814893923-0'); }); } ON THURSDAY, AS THE SUPREME COURT CRIMALISED HOMOSEXUALY, READG DOWN THE NTROVERSIAL BRISH-ERA SECTN 377 OF THE PENAL , MUMBAI-BASED ARNAB NANDY TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPRS HIS JOY, AS MANY ACROSS THE UNTRY AND THE WORLD WERE DOG. “I AM SO GAY TODAY…” HE WROTE A G-OUT POST THAT HAS SCE GONE VIRAL. BUT WHILE NANDY’S CHOICE OF WORD WAS BANG ON THAT DAY, HOW DID A WORD THAT HAD ORIGALLY MEANT LIGHT-HEARTED, REEE OR CHEERFUL, BEE ASSOCIATED WH A MUNY WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN OFTEN BEEN ANYTHG BUT? CARY GRANT AND KATHARE HEPBURN THE 1938 FILM BRGG UP BABY, WHERE GRANT ED THE WORD ‘GAY’ ON SCREEN. OPN IS DIVID THOUGH, ON WHETHER HE ED TO MEAN HOMOSEXUAL OR HAPPY AND CHEERFUL.(ALAMY STOCK PHOTO) THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTNARY TRAC THE HISTORY OF THE WORD ‘GAY’ TO THE FRENCH WORD GAI. MERRIAM WEBSTER TAK FURTHER BACK TO A GERMANIC ORIG “AK TO THE OLD HIGH GERMAN GAHI” THAT MEANT “QUICK OR SUDN”. ACRDG TO BOTH DICTNARI, ENGLISH THE E OF ‘GAY’ TO MEAN HAPPY, EXCED, MERRY, REEE OR BRIGHT STARTED THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERD THAT STRETCH BETWEEN THE 12TH AND THE 16TH CENTURY. ALL FOR AN INTY WHILE SOME BOOKS AND WEBS ON THE HISTORY OF THE GLOBAL HOMOSEXUAL MOVEMENT CLAIM THE WORD GAY WAS ED AS A SECRET BY HOMOSEXUALS TO INTIFY THEMSELV EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, PROFSOR ASHLEY TELLIS SAYS “ WAS THE 1960S THAT THE WORD ME TO BE POPULARLY ASSOCIATED WH THE MUNY”. R RAJ RAO, WRER AND PROFSOR OF ENGLISH AT PUNE UNIVERSY, ADDS: “THE STONEWALL RTS (A SERI OF VLENT NONTATNS BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY AND THE POLICE NEW YORK 1969) ARE THE BEGNG OF MOST GAY-RIGHTS MOVEMENTS THE WORLD. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT THE MUNY STARTED G THE WORD GAY TO INTIFY SELF. IN THE BEGNG, GAY WAS ALSO AN ACRONYM FOR ‘GOOD AS YOU’.” IN INDIA, WHILE TELLIS SAYS THE E OF THE WORD GAY TO MEAN HOMOSEXUALS STARTED THE 1970S AND ’80S WH INDIAN MEN WHO TRAVELLED TO THE WT AND ME BACK, RAO AND WRER HOSHANG MERCHANT SAY THE WORD STARTED GETTG ED HERE THE 1990S AFTER THE SETTG UP OF BOMBAY DOST, THE UNTRY’S FIRST LGBT MAGAZE, BY ACTIVIST ASHOK ROW KAVI. GLOBALLY, THE MUNY PREFERRED GAY TO HOMOSEXUAL, SAYS TELLIS, BEE THE LATTER HAD A NEGATIVE FEEL TO – WAS A MORE CLIL TERM, SUGGTIVE OF A MEDIL NDN. AS AN ARTICLE ON THE WEBSE OF THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICE MENTNS, WAS ONLY 1980 THAT HOMOSEXUALY WAS LETED OM THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTIL MANUAL OF THE AMERIN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATN, TH CHANGG THE VIEW THAT WAS A BEHAVURAL DISORR. ““WHEREAS HOMOSEXUALY IS JT A WORD NOTG A SEXUAL PREFERENCE OR TENNCY AND ED ROGATORILY, GAY IS AN INTY. EVER SCE STONEWALL, SEXUAL POLICS HAD E TO PLAY AND INTIFYG AS GAY WAS A WAY FOR THE MUNY TO BE A PART OF THAT POLICS,” SAYS RAO. “IT WAS A SUBVERSN OF THE TABLISHED VOBULARY BY THE MUNY. THE SAME WAY THAT ‘QUEER’ WOULD BE ED, LATER ON,” HE ADDS. “WHILE THE NVENTNAL MEANG OF QUEER IS WEIRD, AND IS A DISCRIMATORY TERM SELF, THE MUNY HAS BEEN G AS AN INTY,” HE POTS OUT. THE LGBTQ HAVE THEIR OWN VOBULARY, ONE THAT OFTEN VARI OM CY TO CY, AND HAS TAKEN ON REGULAR WORDS THAT MEAN SOMETHG QUE DIFFERENT WHEN APPLIED TO THEMSELV OR ED WH THE MUNY, SAYS ASHOK ROW KAVI. “IN BOMBAY FOR EXAMPLE, THE LGBTQ MUNY THE WORD ‘GHODI’ TO MEAN A PLACLOTH POLICEMAN,” HE EXPLAS. A NEW USE

The Ksey report of 1948, for example, found that 30 percent of adult Amerin mal among Ksey’s subjects had engaged some homosexual activy and that 10 percent reported that their sexual practice had been exclively homosexual for a perd of at least three years between the ag of 16 and 55.

A range of more recent surveys, ncerng predomantly homosexual behavur as well as same-genr sexual ntact adulthood, have yield rults that are both higher and lower than those intified by Ksey. Instead of tegorizg people absolute terms as eher homosexual or heterosexual, Ksey observed a spectm of sexual activy, of which exclive orientatns of eher type make up the extrem.

Although the topic of homosexualy was ltle discsed the public fom durg the early part of the 20th century, beme a polil issue many Wtern untri durg the late 20th century. This was particularly te the Uned Stat, where the gay rights movement is often seen as a late offshoot of var civil rights movements of the 1960s. After the 1969 Stonewall rts, which New York Cy policemen raid a gay bar and met wh staed ristance, many homosexuals were embolned to intify themselv as gay men or lbians to iends, to relativ, and even to the public at large.