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Gay
From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia.
Gay, in addition to meaning "merry", "joyous" or "glad", also means homosexual.
The word gay has had a sexual meaning since at least the nineteenth century (and possibly earlier) - in Victorian England, female and male prostitutes were called "gay" (because they dressed gaily). Eventually, "gay boys" (renters) became used as a term for any male homosexual. In the United States, the term may have arisen from the hobo community: a young hobo, a "gay cat" or "geycat", often had to befriend an older more experienced hobo for education and survival. Such a relationship was implicitly sexual, hence the term "gay cat" came to mean "a young homosexual". The most famous of these early "gays" was Thomas Collingwood, a portly, cherub-faced musician who had fallen on hard times after a prolonged period without work.
A quote from Gertrude Stein's "Miss Furr & Mrs. Skeene" (1922) is possibly the first traceable use of the word, although it is not altogether clear whether she uses the word to mean lesbianism, or happiness.
Noel Coward's 1929 musical Bitter Sweet has the first uncontested use of the word: in the song Green Carnation, four overdressed, 1890s dandies sing:
Coward uses the 'gay nineties' as a double entendre. The song title alludes to the gay playwright Oscar Wilde, who famously wore a green carnation himself.
Gay can be used exclusively or inclusively. The exclusive meaning refers only to men who prefer sexual or romantic relationships with other men. The inclusive meaning refers to both men and women who prefer sexual or romantic relationships with their own sex (though there is some disagreement about this, hence the term "lesbians and gay men" - see homosexuality). Whether bisexuals are included in either of those meanings is a matter of debate (see bisexuality).
It has been claimed that "gay" was derived as an acronym for "Good As You", but this is a folk etymology.
Another folk etymology accrues to Gay Street, in New York's West Village -- a nexus of homosexual culture. The term also seems, from documentary evidence, to have existed in New York as a code word in the 1940s, where the question, "Are you gay?" would denote more than it might have seemed to outsiders.
The word "gay" is also used as slang to express derision or mockery. For example, "my computer is acting gay", or "that hat is so gay". The derogatory implication is that the object (or person) in question is inferior, weak, effeminate, or just stupid. This slang is very common among young people, who understand the term as meaning 'emotionally open to the point of being ridiculed,' as per Barney the Dinosaur -- but who commonly do not link the term to authentic homosexuality. It appears to float free of the accepted usage, possibly because homosexuality, sui generis, is still exotic and imaginary to much of mainstream America. It exists as a transgressive insult which many find offensive beyond the intention of those using it. Another spelling, "ghey", is sometimes found on the Internet and is supposedly used either to insult without reference to homosexuality or to bypass chat room censors. See also: fag.
According to the Safe Schools Coalition of Washington's Glossary for school employees: "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."
External links:
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about Gay .
365 Gay The daily gay newspaper online
About Gay Movies Everything you always wanted to know about gay themed movies & tv-series.
Entry added/revised 7 October, 2004. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gay". All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details).