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| {{dablink|This article is about the word "gay" as a term. For broader information see ]. For other uses see ].}} | |||
| {{LGBT}} | |||
| In contemporary colloquial usage, the adjective '''gay''' usually refers to ]. | |||
| In earlier and in literary usage, the word means "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy". From the 1890s, it had begun to carry a connotation of ], as in a "gay house" referring to a ]. It began to be used in reference to homosexuality in particular from the early 20th century, from the ] at the latest. | |||
| The word ''gay'' is sometimes used to refer to same-sex relationships more generally, as in "gay marriage", although this usage is discouraged by some ] supporters: the rationale is that this usage is exclusive of not only ] and ] people but also lesbians who generally reject labels of being a subset of men, even gay men. While ''gay'' applies in some contexts to all homosexual people, the term '']'' is sex-specific: it is used exclusively to describe gay women. Sometimes ''gay'' is used to refer only to men. | |||
| In contemporary culture, the word 'gay' also has ] (especially among younger generations) to mean 'rubbish'; for something not considered good <ref>{{citeweb |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article671972.ece |title=BBC ruling on use of the word gay}}</ref>. The use of the term in this manner is contentious <ref>{{citeweb |url=http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,17153.0.html |title=Discussion on student use}}</ref>. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| ===Etymology=== | |||
| {{Sexual orientation}} | |||
| ] from 1857 illustrating the use of "gay" as a euphemism for being a prostitute. One woman says to the other (who looks glum), "how long have you been gay?" The poster on the wall is for ], an opera about a courtesan.]] | |||
| The primary meaning of the word ''gay'' has changed dramatically during the 20th century—though the change evolved from earlier usages. It derives via the ] ''gai'', probably from a ] source.<ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gay |title=Online Etymology Dictionary }}</ref> The word originally meant "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy" and was very commonly used with this meaning in speech and literature. | |||
| For example, the title of the 1938 ] aptly named ''Gaîté Parisienne'' ("Parisian Gaiety"), a patchwork compiled from ]'s operettas, illustrates this connotation, and the ] 1890s are still often referred to as the '']''. | |||
| The derived abstract noun '']'' remains largely free of connotations of sexuality. | |||
| "Gaiety" was also a common name for places of entertainment. One of ]'s favourite venues in Dublin was the ]. | |||
| ===Sexualization=== | |||
| The word started to acquire sexual connotations in the late 17th century, being used with meaning "addicted to pleasures and dissipations". This was by extension from the primary meaning of "carefree": implying "uninhibited by moral constraints". By the late nineteenth century the term "gay life" was a well-established euphemism for ] and other forms of extramarital sexual behavior that were perceived as immoral. | |||
| The use of ''gay'' to mean "homosexual" was in origin merely an extension of the word's sexualised connotation of "carefree and uninhibited", which implied a willingness to disregard conventional or respectable sexual mores. Such usage is documented as early as the 1920s. It was initially more commonly used to imply heterosexually unconstrained lifestyles, as for example in the once-common phrase "gay Lothario",<ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.bartleby.com/81/10549.html |title=Bartleby dictionary }}</ref> or in the title of the book and film [[The Falcon (literary character)| | |||
| ''The Gay Falcon'']] (1941), which concerns a womanizing detective whose first name is "Gay". {{wiktionarypar|gay}}Well into the mid 20th century a middle-aged bachelor could be described as "gay" without any implication of homosexuality. This usage could apply to women too. The British comic strip '']'' was first published in the 1930s and described the adventures of ''Jane Gay''. Far from implying homosexuality, it referred to her freewheeling lifestyle with plenty of boyfriends (while also punning on ]). | |||
| A passage from ]'s ''Miss Furr & Miss Skeene'' (1922) is possibly the first traceable published use of the word to refer to a homosexual relationship, though it is not altogether clear whether she uses the word to mean ]ism or happiness: | |||
| {{Cquote|They were ...gay, they learned little things that are things in being gay, ... they were quite regularly gay.|||Gertrude Stein, 1922}} | |||
| The 1929 musical ''Bitter Sweet'' by Noel Coward contains another use of the word in a context that strongly implies homosexuality. In the song "Green Carnation", four overdressed, 1890s ] sing: | |||
| {{Cquote |Pretty boys, witty boys,<br> You may sneer<br> At our disintegration.<br> Haughty boys, naughty boys,<br> Dear, dear, dear!<br> Swooning with affectation...<br> And as we are the reason<br> For the "Nineties" being gay,<br> We all wear a green carnation. |||], 1929 |'']'' }} | |||
| The song title alludes to ], who famously wore a ] ], and whose homosexuality was well known. However, the phrase "gay nineties" was already well-established as an epithet for the decade (a film entitled ''The Gay Nineties; or, The Unfaithful Husband'' was released in the same year). The song also drew on familiar satires on Wilde and ] dating back to ]'s '']'' (1881). Because of its continuation of these public usages and conventions – in a mainstream musical – the precise connotations of the word in this context remain ambiguous. | |||
| Other usages at this date involve some of the same ambiguity as Coward's lyrics. '']'' (1938) was the first film to use the word ''gay'' in apparent reference to homosexuality. In a scene where ]'s clothes have been sent to the cleaners, he must wear a lady's feathery robe. When another character inquires about his clothes, he responds "Because I just went gay...all of a sudden!"<ref>{{citeweb |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/bringingupbaby.html |title=Bringing Up Baby }}</ref> However, since this was a mainstream film at a time when the use of the word to refer to homosexuality would still be unfamiliar to most film-goers, the line can also be interpreted to mean "I just decided to do something frivolous". There is much debate about what Grant meant with the ad-lib (the line was not in the script). | |||
| The word continued to be used with the dominant meaning of "carefree", as evidenced by the title of '']'' (1934), a musical film about a heterosexual couple. It was originally to be called ''"]"'' after the play on which it was based, but the ] determined that while a divorcee may be gay, it would be unseemly to allow a divorce to appear so. | |||
| ===Narrowing to "homosexual"=== | |||
| By the mid-20th century, "gay" was well-established as an antonym for "straight" (which had connotations of respectability), and to refer to the lifestyles of unmarried and or unattached people. Other connotations of frivolousness and showiness in dress ("gay attire") led to association with ] and ]. This association no doubt helped the gradual narrowing in scope of the term towards its current dominant meaning, which was at first confined to subcultures. ''Gay'' was the preferred term since other terms, such as "]" were felt to be derogatory. "]" was perceived as excessively clinical: especially since homosexuality was at that time designated as a mental illness, and "homosexual" was used by the ] (DSM) to denote men affected by this "mental illness". Homosexuality was no longer classified as an illness in the DSM by 1973, but the clinical connotation of the word remained embedded in society.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} | |||
| In mid-20th century Britain, (where male homosexuality was illegal until the late 1960s) to openly identify someone as homosexual was considered very offensive and an accusation of serious criminal activity. Additionally, none of the words describing any part of homosexuality were considered suitable for polite society. Consequently, a number of ironic euphemisms were used to hint at suspected homosexuality. Examples include “Such a ''nice'' man”, “Such a ''gay'' man”, “Such ''beautiful'' handwriting”, all with the stress deliberately on the otherwise completely innocent adjective. | |||
| One of the many characters invented by 1950s TV comic ] was a "gay-acting" poet named ]. In one of his poems (which were always read to an imaginary off-screen character named "Bruce") he mentions the expression "gay caballero". | |||
| By 1963, the word "gay" was known well enough by the straight community to be used by ] in his book ''The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Man-Hunting''. | |||
| ]'s '']'' claims that the term goes back to a term for Renaissance actors playing female roles when women were not allowed on the stage, "gaieties;" however, Shakespeare scholars dismiss this explanation and claim that the term is a neologism. Kirchner's bibliography is one page with no direct citations, so it is difficult to ascertain the source of his claim. | |||
| A ] refers to ], a small street in the West Village of ] — a nexus of homosexual culture.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} | |||
| ==Homosexuality== | |||
| ===Sexual orientation===<!-- This section is linked from ] --> | |||
| {{main|Homosexuality}} | |||
| ], behavior, and self-identification are not necessarily aligned in a clear-cut fashion for a given individual (''See ] for a discussion of sex and gender.'') Most people consider ''gay'' and '']'' to be synonyms. This is how, in fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines it. However, some consider ''gay'' to be a matter of self-identification, while ''homosexual'' refers to sexual orientation. Indeed, the British ] activist ] has argued that the term ''gay'' is merely a cultural expression which reflects the current status of homosexuality within a given society, and claiming that "Queer, gay, homosexual ... in the long view, they are all just temporary identities. One day, we won't need them at all." <ref>{{citeweb |url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2006/11/is_gay_just_a_phase.html |title= Just a phase |publisher=Guardian Unlimited}}</ref> | |||
| If a person engages in same-sex sexual encounters but does not self-identify as gay, terms such as ']', 'discreet', or ']' may be applied. Conversely, a person may identify as gay without engaging in homosexual sex. Possible choices include identifying as gay socially while choosing to be ] or while anticipating a first homosexual experience. Further, a ] person can also identify as "gay" but others might consider ''gay'' and ''bisexual'' to be mutually exclusive. There are some who are drawn to the same-sex and may not have sex and also not identify as gay, these could have the term ']' applied even though an 'asexual' generally can mean no attraction and includes heterosexual attraction that is not sufficient to engage in sex or where the sex act is not desirable even though titillation may occur. | |||
| ====Terminology==== | |||
| {{main|Terminology of homosexuality}} | |||
| Self-identification of one's ] is becoming far more commonplace in areas of increased social acceptance, but many are either reluctant to self-identify publicly or even privately to themselves. The process is fairly complex, and many groups related to gay people cite ] and ] as leading obstacles for those who would otherwise self-identify. | |||
| Some people reject the term ''homosexual'' as an identity-label because they find it too clinical-sounding. They believe it is too focused on physical acts rather than romance or attraction, or too reminiscent of the era when homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Conversely, some people find the term ''gay'' to be offensive or reject it as an identity-label because they perceive the cultural connotations to be undesirable or because of the negative connotations of the slang usage of the word. | |||
| According to the '''Safe Schools Coalition''' of Washington's ''Glossary for School Employees'': | |||
| {{Cquote|Homosexual: Avoid this term; it is clinical, distancing and archaic. Sometimes appropriate in referring to behavior (although same-sex is the preferred adj.). When referring to people, as opposed to behavior, homosexual is considered derogatory and the terms gay and lesbian are preferred, at least in the Northwest . |||Safe School Coalition|''Glossary for School Employees'' <ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/glossary.pdf |title=Safe Schools Coalition Glossary}}</ref>}} | |||
| The term ''gay'' is used to describe both same-sex male and same-sex female relations, although it is more commonly applied to men. More rarely, ''gay'' is used as a shorthand for ]: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. Some transgender individuals find their inclusion in this larger grouping to be offensive. {{Fact|date=February 2008}} | |||
| ===Gay community=== | |||
| {{Main article|Gay community}} | |||
| The lesbian and gay movement is a ], whose development is attributed to the ] of June 28, 1969 in ]. Its direct predecessor was the ] of the 1950s and 60s. | |||
| Just as the word "gay" is sometimes used as shorthand for ], so "gay community" is sometimes a synonym for "] community." In other cases, the speaker may be referring only to gay men. Some people (including many mainstream American journalists) interpret the phrase "gay community" to mean "the population of LGBT people". | |||
| Some LGBT people are relatively isolated, geographically or socially, from other LGBT people, or don't feel their social connections to their LGBT friends are different from those they have with straight friends. As a result, some analysts question the notion of sharing a "community" with people one has never actually met (whether in person or remotely). But other advocates insist that all LGBT people (and perhaps their allies) share political and social interests that make them part of a global community, in one way or another. | |||
| === Cultural relativity of the term === | |||
| The concept of ''gay'' identity and the use of the term gay itself may not be used or understood the same way in non-Westernised cultures, since models of sexuality may differ from those prevalent in the West. <ref>Masculinity for boys: A guide for peer educators; Published by UNESCO, New Delhi, Page: 102, Page: 62</ref> Shivananda Khan notes that "About three-quarters (72%) of truck drivers in North Pakistan who participated in a recent survey published in AIDS Analysis Asia admitted that they had sex with other males, while 76% stated that they had sex with female sex workers. Are these 72% gay? Homosexual?". He suggests that debate on sexuality can take a neocolonial form "whereby Western sexual ideologies have 'invaded' Indian discourses on sexuality and identity by professionals, laypersons, 'straights' or 'gays,' and whereby indigenous histories and cultures become invisible."<ref>Shivananda Khan, "Male 'Homosexualities' In India & South Asia: Culture, sexualities, and identities: men who have sex with men in India.", ''Journal of Homosexuality'', Vol 40 (2001)</ref> A similar argument is made by Joseph Massad, with reference to Arab culture. Massad argues that "Following in the footsteps of the white Western women's movement, which had sought to universalize its issues through imposing its own colonial feminism on the women's movements in the non-Western world -- a situation that led to major schisms from the outset -- the gay movement has adopted a similar missionary role."<ref>Massad, Joseph Andoni, ''Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World'', Public Culture - Volume 14, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 361-385.</ref> | |||
| ===Descriptor=== | |||
| The term ''gay'' can also be used as an adjective to describe things related to gay people or things which are part of ]. For example, while a ] is not itself homosexual, using ''gay'' as an adjective to describe the bar indicates that the bar is either gay-oriented, caters primarily to a gay clientèle, or is otherwise part of gay culture. | |||
| Using it to describe an object, such as an item of clothing, suggests that it is particularly flamboyant, often on the verge of being gaudy and garish. This usage pre-dates the association of the term with homosexuality, but has acquired different connotations since the modern usage developed. | |||
| Using the term ''gay'' as an adjective where the meaning is akin to "related to gay people, culture, or homosexuality in general" is a widely accepted use of the word. By contrast, using ''gay'' in the pejorative sense, to describe something solely as negative, can cause offence. | |||
| ===Use as noun=== | |||
| ''Gay'' was originally used purely as an adjective ("he is a gay man" or "he is gay"). ''Gay'' | |||
| has been in use as a noun with the meaning "homosexual man" since the 1970s. "Gays are opposed to that policy"; although some dislike this usage, it is common particularly in the names of various organizations such as ] (PFLAG) and ] (COLAGE). It is sometimes used as a singular noun, as in "he is a gay", such as in its use to comic effect by the '']'' character Dafydd Thomas. | |||
| ==Pejorative non-sexualized usage== | |||
| {{wiktionarypar|ghey}} | |||
| When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that was so gay"), the word ''gay'' is ]. While retaining its other meanings, it has also acquired "a widespread current usage" amongst young people, as a general term of disparagement.<ref>'']'' (] ], p.3)</ref> This pejorative usage has its origins in the late 1970s. Beginning in the 1980s and especially in the late 1990s, the usage as a generic insult became common among young people. | |||
| This usage of the word has been criticized as "]". A 2006 ] ruling by the ] over the use of the word in this context by ] on his ] show, ''"I don't want that one, it's gay"'', advises "caution on its use" for this reason: | |||
| {{Cquote|"The word ‘gay’, in addition to being used to mean ‘homosexual’ or ‘carefree’, was often now used to mean ‘lame’ or ‘rubbish’. This is a widespread current usage of the word amongst young people... The word 'gay' ... need not be offensive... or homophobic The governors said, however, that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage. The committee... was "familiar with hearing this word in this context." The governors believed that in describing a ring tone as 'gay', the ] was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish', rather than 'homosexual'. The panel acknowledged however that this use... in a derogatory sense... could cause offence in some listeners, and counselled caution on its use.|||BBC Board of Governors|<ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2212170,00.html |title=Gay means rubbish, says BBC |publisher=Times newspaper online }}</ref>}} | |||
| ==Given name== | |||
| The first name ''Gay'' is still occasionally encountered, usually as a female name although the spelling is often altered to ''Gaye''. (795th most common in the United States, according to the 1990 US census<ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.female.first |title=US Census, Female Names }}</ref>). It was also used as a male first name. The first name of the popular male Irish television presenter ] was always abbreviated as "Gay", as in the title of his radio show ''The Gay Byrne Show''. It can also be used as a short form of the female name ''Gaynell'' and as a short form of the male names ''Gaylen'' and ''Gaylord''. | |||
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