The history of the word “gay” | The Gayly

Contents:

• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
• QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
• GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
• MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH
• GAY
• WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE GAY? DEFN AND MEANG OF GAY

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

Is a backronym for gay standg for Good As You.

It is meant to transform the historic e of gay as a slur to an exprsn of gay Pri. The term gay has referred to someone who exhibs sexual sire or behavr toward a person or persons of their same sex sce at least the 1930s. Historilly, gay has been ed as an extremely offensive slur, eveng evolvg to a tch-all sult for “stupid” the 1980–90s.

However, large part due to reclamatn by Gay Rights activists over the s, gay has sce bee a preferred term to refer to gay men—and preferred over homosexual, a term that wh a lot of paful baggage. Beg nakedly anti-gay is still a stance that might st you jobs, iends, and rpect 21st century society.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”

Pl Flynn’s 2017 book about gay Brish culture is tled Good As You: From Prejudice to Pri—30 Years of Gay Bra. Good As You has also been ed as a song tle, cludg by Eternal Summers 2012 and Sundrsed 2015, though the stanc are about heartache, not gay Pri. Time’s up Glov off You won’t like hearg , but GAY = #GoodAsYou & opposg #SSM is bigoted #LGBTI #EqualMarriage.

You know this untry gay stands for Good As You. Rumors persist that good as you is the orig of g gay for a homosexual man or LGBTQ person more generally, but that’s bog etymology (à la golf g om Gents Only, Ladi Forbidn). Stands for good at yoga, but the evince for this is lackg, not even on flyers for gay yoga class.

QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Some lbians may prefer to intify as gay or as gay women.

Sexual orientatn refers to the endurg physil, romantic and/or emotnal attractn to members of the same and/or other genrs, cludg lbian, gay, bisexual and straight orientatns. As GLAAD not, "Transgenr people may be straight, lbian, gay, bisexual or queer. A person who transns om female to male and is attracted solely to men would typilly intify as a gay man.

GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)

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.

MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH

People aware of this former tegorizatn feel that the term homosexual still rri a negative nnotatn. 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.”. For the and other reasons, the term homosexual is wily nsired disparagg and offensive.

Instead, the terms gay and lbian are generally preferred. 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.

The days, the term homosexual is typilly limed to medil ntexts, if ed at all. 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).

GAY

They attempted to arrt the gay and trans bar patrons, which started a seri of protts agast the police. 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.

Trans activist Slyvia Rivera particular advoted for the more forceful slogan “Gay power.”.

WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE GAY? DEFN AND MEANG OF GAY

The term queer, like the term homosexual, has a b of a troubled history. However, unlike homosexual, has been wily reappropriated by the LGBTQ muny as a label. 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.

In 1990, this effort foced on queer as a llective term for gay and lbian people. Queer was seen as a way to refer to gays and lbians whout beg genr-sentialist or g divisns wh the muny. We have already touched on the terms gay and lbian.

homoromantic: a person who is romantilly attracted to people of the same sex or genr. Often ed to refer to asexual people  a siar manner as “gay” or “straight” are ed to refer to homosexual or heterosexual people. Ally: A person who supports and rpects sexual diversy, acts acrdgly to challenge homophobic and heterosexist remarks and behavrs, and is willg to explore and unrstand the forms of bias wh themselv.