GAY SLANG 101 – JJ Malibu

Contents:

• GAY SLANG 101
• GAY DICTNARY
• GAY SLANG
• POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE
• HOW TO USE TR DIFFERENTLY FOR GAY
• SLANG/GAY & LBIAN

GAY SLANG 101

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.”.

GAY DICTNARY

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.

GAY SLANG

Unls they are drag performers, most Trans people would be offend by beg nfed wh drag queens or drag kgs.Gay - The adjective ed to scribe people whose endurg physil, romantic and/or emotnal attractns are to people of the same sex (e.g., gay man, gay people). Avoid intifyg gay people as “homosexuals” an outdated term nsired rogatory and offensive to many lbian and gay people.Genr Exprsn  - Refers to how an dividual exprs their socially nstcted genr.

POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE

Some lbians may prefer to intify as gay (adj.) or as gay women.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.

HOW TO USE TR DIFFERENTLY FOR GAY

As there is no one straight liftyle, there is no one lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr liftyle.Men Lovg Men (MLM)  - Commonly ed by muni of lor to note the attractn of men to men.Men 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).Openly Gay - Dcrib people who self-intify as lbian or gay their personal, public and/or profsnal liv.

However, is not universally accepted even wh the LGBT muny and should be avoid unls someone self-intifi that way.Qutng - The procs of nsirg or explorg one’s sexual orientatn and/or genr inty.Sexual 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.

Avoid the offensive term “sexual preference,” which is ed to suggt that beg gay or lbian is voluntary and therefore “curable.”Sexual Behavr - Refers to an dividual’s sexual activi or actns (what a person do sexually). 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.transgenr-specific termologyCross-Drsg - To ocsnally wear cloth tradnally associated wh people of the other sex. For example, a person who is born male and transns to bee female is a transgenr woman, whereas a person who is born female and transns to bee male is a transgenr man.OFFENSIVE TERMS TO AVOIDOffensive: “homosexual” (n.

SLANG/GAY & LBIAN

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.Offensive: “homosexual relatns/relatnship,” “homosexual uple,” “homosexual sex,” etc.Preferred: “relatnship” (or “sexual relatnship”), “uple” (or, if necsary, “gay uple”), “sex,” etc.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 avoid.As 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.