Definition of a gay person
Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ community organizations and leaders. See acknowledgements section.
Additional terms and definitions about gender identity and gender expression, transgender people, and nonbinary people are available in the Transgender Glossary.
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*NOTE: Inquire people what terms they use 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 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering support 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 thi
What Does "Gay" Mean?
There is not one right answer
Many educators are unsure how to respond when a student asks you what does gay mean. It is better to strive to answer than to respond with silence or evade the question.
Practice other 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 place a welcoming tone in your class and school community.
Keep it simple
An acknowledge can be as simple as: “‘Gay’ means two people of the equal gender who treasure each other – two women or two men.” Verb 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 adore and relationships
A discussion with elementary-age students about the meanings of “gay” or “lesbian” is a discussion about treasure and relationships. You can
What Does It Represent to be Gay? Definition and Meaning of Gay
The term "gay" may be confusing and even foreign to some, forcing people to ask, "What is gay?" or "Am I Gay?" And while some might think the definition of "gay" is simple, to many, it actually isn't. While "gay" can be thought of as a synonym to "homosexual," there is more to the meaning of gay than that.
Definition of Gay
Homosexuality is considered to be same-sex sexual attraction and behavior and "gay" is a synonym of homosexuality. The term "homosexuality"1 was first used by Victorian scientists who considered same-sex sexual attraction and behavior a "moral deficiency."2
Homosexuality is still the correct term clinically, but even though homosexuality is no longer considered immoral, some people feel there are still negative overtones to the pos given its origin. The term "gay" was initially a slang term developed to overcome some of these negative associations. It may have come from a nineteenth century French slang pos, "gaie."
What is Gay?
Gay is a term that is not gender specific so men or women ca
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you grasp what the synonyms gay really means?
The word gay dates back to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” meaning “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Old High German “gahi,” meaning impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to mean gleeful, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the s.
At that time the meaning of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might have 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 s, the term “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a new traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger man was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the fir