The meaning of GAY ?

Yavvy

I have some ponderings relating to the word GAY
From what I can tell I understand 3 meanings of GAY

1. Gay as in Happy e.g We’ll have a gay ‘ol time
2. Gay as in homosexual e.g. Yellum is gay
3. Gay as in weak or crap e.g that game was a bit gay

Now I would guess that they all come from the one place, gay meaning happy. And as people were afraid to say the word homosexual in bygone days they called the homosexuals “gay” can any one explain why this came about. Im sure not all homosexuals are happy and im fairly sure they were not happy back when it was considered bad to be homosexual.

Why are gays called gay ???

Second why do people call something that is not good Gay ? is this because of prejudices (spelling) developed against gay people, I would guess it is but if it not let me know.

Talliesin

Gay was used as a slang adjective meaning promiscuous and/or sexually available. From there it became an adjective applied to prostitutes. From there it became an adjective applied to male prostitutes only. From there it became an adjective applied to men who had sex with men. From there it became an adjective applied to men who had a sexual orientation towards men. From there it began to also be applied to lesbians, although that use seems to be on the wane again.

The use of gay as a general derogative term is an extension of homophobia, comparable with the anti-semitic practice of calling somebody a jew because they are stingy, the misogynistic practice of calling a man a girl because he demonstrates some form of weakness etc.

Yavvy

excellent reply...I no longer ponder that pondering.

Muchos grassy ass