Gay, go into any YouTube comment section, and you will see this word. Today we know it as either defining someone’s sexuality or if someone is happy. Even in seventh grade reading, I remember us going over the word gay and the misuse of it. My teacher would tell us that kids nowadays miss use words because they’re not taught the proper meaning of words. Ironically though, we still were not taught any other meaning of the word, just two. The word gay has not only been around for centuries, but the meaning of it has also changed over time. Starting in the twelfth century in England, the word gay became known. It was formed from a old french word gai, which is believed to be derived from another German word, but because words are complicated, …show more content…
Move forward, or backwards depending on your opinion, to the nineteenth century. The word changed to mean either a woman who was a prostitute, or a man who slept with a lot of women. This is the complete opposite of what we think of today when we think of gay. The irony that it went from sleeping with multiple women, to having “interactions” with those of the same sex is pretty funny I think. We never even think of prostitution when it comes to the term gay today, but this just proves the broad spectrum the word can cover. Gay was also used in a different context then we happen to use it today. Back then they may say something along the lines of “Gay it”, which was to have intercourse. Today if we would hear this, from a male perspective, we would probably think that it would to make something very colorful or feminine. Being gay in these day was considered an abomination to a lot of people. It was even illegal to be gay in Britain until 1967, but to make matters worse if a person was even thought to be a homosexual or called one, it would be one of the worst embarrassments at the time. This I find moronic though because cultures in ancient Sparta and Greece such as the Thebans use to embrace homosexuality as a normal act, and they also thought it made their soldiers fight harder to impress their
Legalizing gay marriage has been a controversial topic in the past few years. In my opinion, gay people should be allowed to get married because it is a civil right. It shouldn 't matter what gender they prefer because they 're still regular people. Making gay marriage illegal, is the same as taking away someone 's freedom and civil rights. That is unethical and completely awful. There 's no harm being done by letting two people who are in love with each other get married. However, many religious fundamentalists are against this and believe gay marriage is wrong and needs to be stopped. Homosexual couples should have the right to get married because it 's a civil right and their sexual preference doesn 't make them any less human.
By following this idea, it is clear that the constant creation of new meaning- and new words- blurs the lines so that nothing is really black or white. With this in mind, reading a piece from even as early as 1923 and finding the word “heterosexual” in it would lead to the wrong interpretation if changing definitions and cultural contexts are not taken into account. Furthermore, in 1892, “heterosexual” had a published definition that also was used to describe “inclinations to both sexes” (44). A term that did not exist at that time is bisexual, which is a term that would most accurately be used to describe this kind of sexuality, while heterosexual has taken on a completely new meaning. Without taking this into account, a person who reads a piece from that time period would mistakenly understand the word heterosexual in the way it is used
and they needed to go to jail or a mental facility. There was no word for gay, it was only a
Homosexuality existed since ancient times, for example in Ancient Greece, where it was evident through many literary and artistic works claiming that “pederasty” which means homoerotic relations between adult men and adolescent boys were very common. The adult male was called “Erastes” which means the “older lover” who was usually the role mode...
Homosexuality has always played a huge role in society. Views on this topic have changed immensely from the beginning of the greece era to now in modern society. People have become more appalled with this topic because now in society there are stereotypical views on “normal” ways of living. Religious views have also impacted people's decisions and thoughts about it.
Homosexuality is not a new trend, sexual orientation, or identity, in fact homosexuality is believed to date back over 5,000 years ago (Adams, 2011). Same sex couples have existed for thousands of years and research will show how the social and political stigmas that are known today, have stemmed from religious point of views and political opinions.
James Howe in his book Addie On the Inside said “Another Thing I 'm Sick of Hearing: If I started that gay rights group, I must be gay. So if i start an animal rights group, what does that make me? A giraffe?” The non-supporters of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual and Queer) community often think that if you support LGBTQ rights you’re gay yourself. This is wrong, LGBTQ rights can be supported by anyone, and their rights are an acute issue in society. There are thousands of LGBTQ couples who still cannot get married in certain states. There are many LGBTQ couples that would like to adopt children and enjoy their lives, but instead they’re being shunned for being who they are. So with this I think that LGBTQ couples should
Imagine a government that denies 1,138 rights and benefits to a certain group of people who have not broken any laws. Would you support this government? In the United States, same-sex couples face exactly this kind of discrimination. Since the 1920’s the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans) community has been fighting for equality, starting with the Society of Human Rights in Chicago, the earliest known gay rights organization (“American” 1). The movement transformed completely from a couple of activists to a widespread protest in the 1969 Stonewall Riots. A gay bar in New York, called the Stonewall Inn, experienced a late night police raid for supposed bootlegging of alcohol. However, after the officers began frisking lesbians and assaulting gay men, the crowd rebelled and refused to be arrested or subdued. Three days of rioting occurred throughout New York streets with cries of “Gay Power!” and “We Shall Overcome!” This powerful uprising sparked the gay liberation movement and pride in sexual orientation (“American” 1). Recently, a spotlight has been thrown on gay marriage, or as Liz Feldman puts it, “marriage. You know, because I had lunch this afternoon, not ‘gay lunch’. I parked my car; I didn't ‘gay park’ it.” Advocates of same-sex marriage emphasize the disparity between the religious aspect of marriage and the civil portion that establishes economic and legal ties. The church can set their own standards in their private domain; however, the government represents a diverse population and should remain unprejudiced in administering its civil policies (Roleff 68). Government action is exactly what the LGBT community needs in order to attain their goal of equality. A boost in civil unions and same-sex marriage legalization is sweepi...
What makes a homophobic slur is the negative history behind it and what they mean present day. We will work our way down the list but let’s start with the number one homophobic slur in my book. Faggot. This word has a lot of negativity and strong history behind it. The word faggot used to mean a pile or bundle of sticks to the British back in the Feudalism era. The word fag/faggot may have also been used to describe types of hazing that would be done to boys in British boarding schools but none the less, this word has a horrible past behind it. But, as time went on and more gay and LGBT people started to become more comfortable with themselves and came out to people they knew and came out to the world, that’s when the word was put to use as a slur. The term fag and or faggot was used back then to mostly belittle and demean gay men but it was also
The earliest western documents depicting homosexuality came from ancient Greece and Rome where same sex relationships were a societal norm and very common. These relationships did not replace marriage between a man and a woman; rather, they occurred before and alongside marriage. They were based on emotional connections or physical attractions and valued as a means of population control (The Homosexual Theme, 2005). Shortly after, beautiful odes began to be written in Persia and Arab lands to wine boys who served men in taverns and shared their beds in the evening.
The word "homosexual" seems to have come into the English language around 1869, introduced by a Hungarian named Benkert but not generally used by the British until the 1880s. Yet, according to Theo Aronson, there were other words used at that time to identify the love between the same gender. "Homogenic love," "similisexualism," and "Uranism" were apparently among the more common references to homosexuality.
That is because the human mind and personality is more complex than a single word or even a single phrase. Of course, one word may stick out in one's mind more than others, but that does not mean that it is the only word that describes that person. An LGBT man or woman is more than his or her sexuality. Only a series of several words or phrases can be used to partially describe a person. The word “homosexual” is the only word that can be applied to a person.
“Self pity becomes your oxygen. But you learned to breathe it without a gasp. So, nobody even notices you're hurting.” Every person who identifies as any of LGBTQPIA, (or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer, Questioning, Pansexual, Intersex, and Asexual) can connect directly to this quote by Paul Monette, who wrote it specifically for this group of people. Thousands of people daily are shamed for being a part of it. They are taught to despise themselves for who they are. “Gay Pride” is a common LGBT phrase for a reason: to teach people who are a part of the LGBTQPIA community that they don’t have to be ashamed of themselves. LGBT rights need a lot of work, but before we can make the commitment to do so, we need to make these groups accepted in all of America, not in only a few rare “safe places.”
“It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married” (Procon.org), said Barack Obama the 44th and current president of the United States. The gay right movement started in 1969, riots, struggles, and problems followed after. In today’s society, it has been showed that people are opening up to gay rights. There has been effort in protecting the gays and discrimination against gays is now considered a hate crime and is illegal. However, gay rights still to this day struggle with state and federal legal circumstances. Same- sex marriage needs to be legal, couples who choose to be of the same-sex should be allowed to celebrate their commitment with each other the way heterosexual couples get to, both publicly and society acceptable.
Our world is constantly changing and people are constantly facing new challenges. Throughout society, there are many different people and different opinions to match. One matter that has a lot of different opinions is the matter of homosexuality. Depending on what a person believes or how accepting they are, will reflect on their opinion on this topic. With the world constantly changing, we have very old styles of thinking versus more modern opinions.