Gay and homosexual
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates support to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” sense “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Aged High German “gahi,” essence impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to indicate happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the s.
At that time the sense of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might contain 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 designation “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger human was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the fir
Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ group 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.
Are we missing a term or is a definition outdated? Email press@
*NOTE: Request people what terms they use to describe their sexual orientation, gender culture and gender verbalization 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, homosexual, 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
Homosexuality: The countries where it is illegal to be gay
BBC News
US Vice-President Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three African countries - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn criticism over her support for LGBTQ rights.
In Ghana, in a speech calling for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to criticise a bill before the country's parliament which criminalises advocacy for gay rights and proposes jail terms for those that name as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
The country's Speaker Alban Bagbin later called her remarks "undemocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "intimidated by any person".
In Tanzania, a former minister spoke against US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the see and in Zambia some disagreement politicians have threatened to contain protests.
Where is homosexuality still outlawed?
There are 64 countries that own laws that criminalise homosexuality, and nearly half of these are in Africa.
Some countries, including several in Africa, ha
Adult LGBT Population in the United States
This report provides estimates of the number and percent of the U.S. adult population that identifies as LGBT, overall, as well as by age. Estimates of LGBT adults at the national, state, and regional levels are included. We rely on BRFSS data for these estimates. Pooling multiple years of data provides more stable estimates—particularly at the state level.
Combining BRFSS data, we estimate that % of U.S. adults identify as LGBT. Further, we estimate that there are almost million (13,,) LGBT adults in the U.S.
Regions and States
LGBT people reside in all regions of the U.S. (Table 2 and Figure 2). Consistent with the overall population in the Merged States,more LGBT adults stay in the South than in any other region. More than half (%) of LGBT people in the U.S. live in the Midwest (%) and South (%), including million in the Midwest and million in the South. About one-quarter (%) of LGBT adults reside in the West, approximately million people. Less than one in five (%) LGBT adults live in the Northeast ( million).
The perce