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From: dyer@vaxuum.DEC (This did not happen to/Pablo Picasso)
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Nomenclature - Gay/Homosexual/Lesbian
Message-ID: <3486@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 6-Aug-85 16:13:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.3486
Posted: Tue Aug  6 16:13:09 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Aug-85 20:31:18 EDT
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
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Nomenclature - Gay/Homosexual/Lesbian___________________________________________

> By the way, don't call me "homosexual."  I'm Gay.  It's impolite to call a
> Black person a "Negro," it's just as impolite to call us "homosexual."

	This gets really complicated.  Just as some people object to using the
word "man" to mean "person," there are those who object to using the word "gay"
to mean "homosexual person."  "Gay" is usually taken to mean "homosexual male"
and "Lesbian," of course, means "homosexual female."  Thus there are those who
consider it sexist to use "Gay" to refer to both.
	On the other hand, "Gay" is much more ambiguous than "man," since it's
not intrinsically male, but just used that way sometimes.  There are some homo-
sexual women who don't want to be called "Lesbian" because they feel it means
being a subset of "Gay."
	To get into further shades of grey, there are those who differentiate
between "Gay" and "Lesbian" as verbs, but use "Gay" as an adjective for both!
And there are those who don't mind "homosexual" as an adjective, but despise
it as a noun.
	Chaos.  What will humankind do about it?
		<_Jym_>

:::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer
::::'  ::  `:::: Dracut, Massachusetts
::'    ::    `::
::     ::     :: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
::   .::::.   :: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer
::..:' :: `:..::
::::.  ::  .:::: Statements made in this article are my own; they might not
:::::::::::::::: reflect the views of |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Equipment Corporation.