Gay vs. Lesbian

I think that lesbian sounds like a illnes and does not sound pretty
"sorry,I had to go to the doctor,I may have lesbian"
Gay I guess?

 

Gay and Lesbian have just become too gender specific for me; referring to a girl as gay is too odd for me. "Lesbian" is a beautiful term -- its based off the home of a poet!

 

For the most part, I use lesbian when referring to women who like women and only women in a romantic/sexual way. I don't usually use the term for myself for two reasons: 1) I am attracted to men in some bizarre way that may or may not be romantic/sexual and 2) I'm not sure "woman" is the best word to describe me. But on my particularly gay and female days, I happily go with lesbian.

 

To me, it doesn't matter. I mean, sometimes it sounds odd, depending on the way a person says it, because gay/lesbian have become more gender specific. BUT, gay can be synonymous for both genders as well I think. Personally I'm starting to find myself calling myself "Gay" as opposed to lesbian. It can carry a lot of baggage as well.

So whichever. Lesbian is cool because Sappho. Whatever works for the person describing themselves.

 

It's Sappho.

 

I voted for lesbian because that's what I use, but I wish it would just go away. I'd like to refer to both gay guys and girls as gay and nothing more. Lesbians do get their label from the women that lived on Lesbos, so it's just a relic from history.

I don't like the word lesbian very much. It sounds dirty or vulgar and it's not.

 

Lesbian. Hands down. It's fairly compact, and both scientifically and socially understood.

I wish there was a good easy equivalent word for men that was both scientific and social, without negative and niche-like ramifications.

 

In Evil Monkeyz's point of view:
Lesbian = girls who mostly feel sexual and/ or romantic attraction to girls
Gay = guys who mostly feel sexual and/ or romantic attraction to guys
Homosexual = Those who feel sexual and/ or romantic attraction to the same gender

 

I use the words interchangeably when referring to myself.

 

I prefer to say gay girl. I think it's more inclusive and presents it as the same thing: just BEING gay, only with the difference of male and female. Lesbian makes it sound almost more like a lifestyle than what it IS: an unchangeable and inborn identity.

I also think the term lesbian almost exociticizes gay women, somehow, I dunno, I just don't like it.

That being said, I do use lesbian a lot. I try to stick to gay girl but it's hard to remember and half the time or more I revert back to calling them lesbians, without thinking cause the term is so widespread..

 

Either/or. I tend to use "lesbian" as a noun and "gay" as an adjective. It's like gay has a wider connotation meaning any homosexual, whereas lesbian is just for girls. It's sort of silly XD.

 

i never understood why some people think gay only applies to males...

gay man/gay woman.

but I have no issue with other words either

 

I use the term 'gay'. I call myself a gay woman. For some reason, I really hate the term lesbian. It makes me cringe.

 

^^ me too! I call myself gay and I usually call other lesbians "gay" too. I actually have trouble saying (or even typing!) that I'm a lesbian but I won't get mad if someone calls me that (no one has except for my sister anyway).

 

1) Lesbian is a noun, and LGBT people usually don't like referring to themselves as nouns since there is actually more to us than our sexuality/gender identity.

2) Personally, I still don't like how women get their own special word I think either both genders should get one or neither.

So I voted gay!

 

I prefer calling girls lesbians and reserving "gay" for men. No reason.

 

I usually use lesbian -- I think it's a nicer word -- but depending on the context "gay" can just be easier in a sentence.

 

I tend to use the word lesbian more often. I just associate "lesbian" with women more and "gay" with men more. It just makes sense to me. Although to be honest, when used in conversation, "she's a lesbian" just seems to be given a much more negative connotation than "she's gay." It also sounds more like a noun, stating "what" someone is instead of gay which is an adjective to simply describe an aspect of someone. In that regard, I think gay sounds better.

So even though I think it just sounds better to call both gay, I use lesbian more often for homosexual women just because that's what I learned to associate the term with more than gay.