Dick Lesch’s Gui to Seventi Gay Slang | The New Yorker

Contents:

• GAY SLANG 101
• 12 SLANG WORDS FOR GAY – USE THE TERMS TO ADDRS THEM!
• HOW TO USE TR DIFFERENTLY FOR GAY
• DICK LESCH’S GUI TO SEVENTI GAY SLANG

GAY SLANG 101

Long before hookup apps like Grdr and Scff, gay and bisexual men seekg sual sex wore lored handkerchiefs their pant pockets ditg what kd of sex they were seekg and whether they were a domant/top or submissive/bottom. The lor is pretty extensive and clus var kks and fetish, and is still ed today by gay clothg brands like Nasty Pig and CellBlock 13 — and, obvly, by kky gay men.

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.

12 SLANG WORDS FOR GAY – USE THE TERMS TO ADDRS THEM!

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.”.

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. Avoid intifyg gay people as “homosexuals” an outdated term nsired rogatory and offensive to many lbian and gay Exprsn - Refers to how an dividual exprs their socially nstcted genr.

HOW TO USE TR DIFFERENTLY FOR GAY

LGBTQQIA - An acronym ed to refer to all sexual mori: “Lbian, Gay/Genr Ntral/Genr Queer, Bisexual/Bigenr, Transgenr/Transvte/Transsexual, Qutng/Queer, Intersex, and Alli/Androgyno/Asexual.

”Liftyle - (see Offensive Terms to Avoid) Inaccurate term ed by anti-gay extremists to nigrate lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr liv. As there is no one straight liftyle, there is no one lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr Lovg Men (MLM) - Commonly ed by muni of lor to note the attractn of men to Who Have Sex wh Men - men, cludg those who do not intify themselv as homosexual or bisexual, who engage sexual activy wh other men (ed public health ntexts to avoid excludg men who intify as heterosexual) Gay - Dcrib people who self-intify as lbian or gay their personal, public and/or profsnal liv. Qutng - The procs of nsirg or explorg one’s sexual orientatn and/or genr Orientatn - The scientifilly accurate term for an dividual’s endurg physil, romantic and/or emotnal attractn to members of the same and/or oppose sex, cludg lbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual (straight) orientatns.

DICK LESCH’S GUI TO SEVENTI GAY SLANG

Avoid the offensive term “sexual preference, ” which is ed to suggt that beg gay or lbian is voluntary and therefore “curable.

For example, a man who transns om male to female and is attracted to other women would be intified as a lbian or a gay woman. Bee of the clil history of the word “homosexual, ” is aggrsively ed by anti-gay extremists to suggt that gay people are somehow diseased or psychologilly/emotnally disorred – notns discreded by the Amerin Psychologil Associatn and the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn the 1970s. Intifyg a same-sex uple as “a homosexual uple, ” characterizg their relatnship as “a homosexual relatnship, ” or intifyg their timacy as “homosexual sex” is extremely offensive and should be a le, try to avoid labelg an activy, emotn or relatnship “gay, ” “lbian” or “bisexual” unls you would ll the same activy, emotn or relatnship “straight” if engaged by someone of another orientatn.

Offensive: “sexual preference”Preferred: “sexual orientatn” or “orientatn” The term “sexual preference” is typilly ed to suggt that beg lbian, gay or bisexual is a choice and therefore n and should be “cured. ” Sexual orientatn is the accurate scriptn of an dividual’s endurg physil, romantic and/or emotnal attractn to members of the same and/or oppose sex and is clive of lbians, gay men, bisexuals and straight men and women. Offensive: “gay liftyle” or “homosexual liftyle”Preferred: “gay liv, ” “gay and lbian liv” There is no sgle lbian, gay or bisexual liftyle.

The phrase “gay liftyle” is ed to nigrate lbians and gay men, suggtg that their orientatn is a choice and therefore n and should be “cured. ”Offensive: “admted homosexual” or “avowed homosexual”Preferred: “openly lbian, ” “openly gay, ” “openly bisexual” Dated term ed to scribe those who are openly lbian, gay or bisexual or who have recently e out of the closet.

DEFAMATORY LANGUAGE“fag, ” “faggot, ” “dyke, ” “homo, ” “sodome, ” “she-male, ” “he-she, ” “, ” “shim, ” “tranny” and siar ephets The creria for g the rogatory terms should be the same as those applied to vulgar ephets ed to target other groups.