Can the word gay be used for women
(Image credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
If you're a member of a stigmatized group, such as a person of color or a homosexual man or woman, even the smallest of communicate can be fraught with small discomforts, slights, and aggressions.
Such casual offenses necessitate not be intentional. Indeed, they often aren't.
For example, consider the word "homosexual," which Jeremy Peters writes "probably sounds inoffensive" to most people. I am a straight man who considers myself to be politically aligned with the struggles of gay men and women, and I frequently use the word (including just last night). I was surprised then to learn that the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) listed it as an repulsive term back in 2006.
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I thought it was strange that
What Does "Gay" Mean?
There is not one right answer
Many educators are unsure how to respond when a student asks you what does homosexual mean. It is better to attempt to answer than to respond with silence or evade the question.
Practice diverse responses with colleagues, just as you practice other things that you crave to learn. Figure out what you feel comfortable saying.
Responses will vary by age and developmental stage of the student. Your comfort in answering these questions will fix a welcoming tone in your class and school community.
Keep it simple
An reply can be as simple as: “‘Gay’ means two people of the similar gender who affectionate each other – two women or two men.” Attempt to answer the question honestly without overloading a learner with information. Throughout elementary school a student’s ability to understand what “gay” means and what your explanation means may increase with development.
Focus on treasure and relationships
A discussion with elementary-age students about the meanings of “gay” or “lesbian” is a discussion about cherish and relationships. You can just clarify that people affectionate each other in different ways. Some women love and want to be partners
Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ collective organizations and leaders. Observe acknowledgements section.
Additional terms and definitions about gender identity and gender verbalization, transgender people, and nonbinary people are available in the Transgender Glossary.
Are we missing a term or is a definition outdated? Email press@glaad.org
*NOTE: Ask people what terms they operate to describe their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression before assigning them a label. Outside of acronyms, these terms should only be capitalized when used at the beginning of a sentence.
LGBTQ
Acronym for womxn loving womxn, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering endorse for youth, it can also stand for questioning. LGBT and LGBTQ+ are also used, with the + added in recognition of all non-straight, non-cisgender identities. (See Transgender Glossary ) Both are acceptable, as are other versions of this acronym. The term “gay community” should be avoided, as it does not accuratel
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates advocate to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” interpretation “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Aged High German “gahi,” sense impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to imply happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the 1600s.
At that time the definition of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might include been described as a “gay woman” and a womanizer as a “gay man.”
“Gay house” was commonly used to refer to a brothel and, later, “gaiety” was used as a common name for certain places of entertainment.
In the 1890s, the legal title “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger male was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a queer relationship.
In 1951, gay appeared in the
LGBTQIA+ Slurs and Slang
bog queen
Synonyms: Bathsheba (composition between bathroom and Sheba to produce a name reminiscent of the Queen of Sheba), Ghost (50s, ghost, because they wander the corridors of the bathroom).