Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility.via CommonsĢ. “ Homosexuality symbols” by Martin Strachoň (Bazi). Homosexual: This term does not consist of an alternative meaning.ġ. “ GayFest Bucharest 2005 2“. Gay: Gay was originally used to refer to a carefree attitude and also applied to happy and bright and showy people. Homosexual: Homosexual is not gender specific and can be applied to men as well as women. Gay: Men having sexual behavior towards other men prefer to be called gay as it has much less negative implications. Homosexual: Homosexual is a clinical term that refers to persons of a particular sex having sexual feelings towards persons of their own sex.
![queer vs gay definition queer vs gay definition](https://www.fandm.edu/uploads/files/516758293443643609-istock-000044989296-large-edit.0.540.1637.655.full.jpg)
Gay: Gay is a word that is a part of the acronym LGBT that stands for lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. What is the difference between Gay and Homosexual? Definitions of Gay and Homosexual: Men having sexual attraction towards each other prefer to use the word gay for themselves as it is not laden with negative connotations.
![queer vs gay definition queer vs gay definition](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/06/17/us/17xp-lbgtid/17xp-lbgtid-articleLarge-v2.jpg)
However, it is not gender specific which means that it could be used to describe two girls or two boys having sexual relations with each other. The word homosexual is not a general word used by people in everyday lives. However, homosexual females have a special term lesbians, whereas it is gay that has been accepted as a specific term to refer to homosexual men. Thus, homosexual is a term that could be applied to males as well as females. Homosexual is a clinical term used by doctors and scientists, to study the sexual behavior of the members of a species. Homosexuality is a sexual orientation where members of the same sex display romantic and sexual feelings towards each other. Since then, gay has been used to refer to men having physical and emotional relations with other men with other meanings of the word having been almost abandoned.
![queer vs gay definition queer vs gay definition](https://students.ubc.ca/sites/students.ubc.ca/files/LGBT2SQIA%2B_Infographic_v3.jpg)
There were some who felt that homosexual sounded like a disease or a disorder. Even homosexual men preferred to be called gay as homosexual sounded too clinical and almost offensive. By the middle of the 50’s, gay came to be officially recognized word for homosexual men. It was during the 20’s and the 30’s that the word gay seemed to take upon new meanings with men having physical relations with other men being referred to as gay.
![queer vs gay definition queer vs gay definition](https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/styles/cropped_img_md/public/images/assets/images-content/education-outreach/curriculum-resources/people-waving-gay-pride-rainbow-flags-istock-000047365798-460.jpg)
So, if a man had a happy go lucky attitude and he could be described as carefree, he was called a gay man. However, the word gay did not always mean homosexual as it was originally used to reflect happiness, energy, verve, bright, and even carefree. It is also a noun to refer to a category of men having physical and emotional relations with other men. This means that the word has become an adjective to describe the sexual orientation of men having sexual relations and emotional attraction towards other men. Gay is a word that is a part of the acronym LGBT that stands for lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Today gay and homosexual have become synonymous though it was not always so and gay had different connotations. There is another word gay that has slowly come around to mean a man having sexual relations with another man though the word had completely different origins. In fact, homosexual is a word that explicitly describes the sexual orientation of a person. Homosexual is a word that is used to refer to people of the same sex having sexual relations.