Gay as happy
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates endorse to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” definition “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Vintage High German “gahi,” interpretation impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to express happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the 1600s.
At that time the interpretation of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might hold 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 1890s, 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 gentleman was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a queer relationship.
In 1951, gay appeared in the
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How to Be Happy as a Gay Man
I’m an advice columnist for the Advocate.com. Here’s my respond to the following interrogate, sent by a reader.
Dear Adam,
I have a fantastic boyfriend, interesting job, adorable dog, and enough funds to buy most things I want. This is supposed to be same-sex attracted heaven. And yet, I’m not happy. I often feel like “is this all there is?” Why can’t I just recognize all the good I have?
Signed,
Disappointed in Denver
Dear Saddened in Denver,
You’re not alone with these feelings. In fact, they are beautiful common. But we rarely talk about it. If we do, we terror we’ll sound spoiled.
There’s a lot of research organism done on happiness these days.
We think what will make us most joyful is a great career, a devoted boyfriend or girlfriend, and a lovely apartment.
However, the research makes it clear that the strongest source of happiness is the feeling of being connected and part of a larger whole.
That sounds old-fashioned. Like we should all be in church on Sundays. And the majority of LGBTQ people lost interest in religion a long second ago, especially when it became clear that we weren’t welcome in most churches.
And yet, the feeling of “is this all there is?” pers
How ‘gay’ got its rainbow: What once meant merry is now a badge of identity for homosexuals
On Thursday, as the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, reading down the controversial British-era section 377 of the penal code, Mumbai-based Arnab Nandy took to social media to express his joy, as many across the country and the world were doing. “I am so Gay today…” he wrote in a coming-out post that has since gone viral. But while Nandy’s choice of word was bang on that day, how did a word that had originally meant light-hearted, carefree or cheerful, become linked with a community whose life has been often been anything but?
The Oxford English dictionary traces the history of the synonyms ‘gay’ to the French word Gai. Merriam Webster takes it further endorse to a Germanic inception “akin to the Elderly High German Gahi” that meant “quick or sudden”. According to both dictionaries, in English the employ of ‘gay’ to intend happy, excited, merry, carefree or bright started in the Middle English period that stretches between the 12th and the 16th century.
All For An Identity
While some books and websites on the history of the global gay movement claim the pos gay was used as
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