Does the term gay apply to lesbians?

I don't refer to myself as "gay" but rather "lesbian." However, my girlfriend refers to us as "gay." I really think it is just a person's personal preference.

 

well I call myself gay and I don't really use lesbian I really do think it is about preference.

 

do you know what I find odd is the fact that if a guy is 'gay' that is what the is, gay. Wheras a girl is 'a lesbian' if you get the difference. I prefer to use gay as i don't want to be 'a' anything...

you wouldn't call a gay guy 'a gay'

 

Well no, you wouldn't call a guy "a gay," but you could call him a fag, which raises another question...do homosexual girls ever get called fags? I've never heard anyone call a girl a fag, but was wondering if people ever do.

I guess the most gender neutral word for non-heterosexuals (at least in my opinion )would be queer. But since that's not the most PC term, straight people can't really use it if they don't want to come off as homophobic.

 

I get called a fag. Mostly by my friend who aims to piss me off.

 

Hmm...I should since gay means homosexual people but since number of male homosexuals are greater than female's, people tended to use term gay to guy but I suppose it could apply to lesbians.

Straight guy loves lesbians, but hate gay guys....they really do

 

My general understanding is that gay is usually used as an abbreviation to homosexual (along with the obvious: 'homo') - regardless of gender.

Fag/dyke are used to describe male and females (respectfully); whether or not these words are derogative is really in how they are used.

 

I use the word gay in regard to lesbians, the reason why is simple. Lesbian has 2 extra syllables that I can't always be bothered saying lol. And if I want to specify that I mean both male and female homosexuals it's so much easier to say gay. Problem is most people only picture males when you say it. I think I've heard someone refer to a lesbian as a fag before... But it shouldn't be said in that context to begin with..

 

Both "gay" and "fag" refer to both lesbian and gay men. The term "fag" however is directed more towards gay men just like the term "dyke" is directed to gay women. I also call myself gay sometimes out of convinience like MissyJ158 said it has less syllables When i did my coming out i referred to myself as "gay" because i considered the term to be less shocking then "I'm a lesbian". I don't know why though :S Now though i love saying.."yah that's right, I'm a lesbian "

 

For me, I prefer the word gay over lesbian. I don't know why, but lesbian strikes me as a word that refers more to my actual sex life (or lack thereof :icon_sad rather than simply a part of who I am (homosexual). Probably sounds weird, but that is how I think about it.

 

I've heard of women coming out as gay, but I really don't like it. Don't get me wrong, people can use any word they want, but I don't like it 'cause it confused me when some people I know said a person was gay, I expected for them to be talking of a guy, but it turned out to be a girl

 

I tend to use both to describe myself. And when I came out, especially to family, it was easier to say gay for some magical reason. This one comedian said she thought lesbian was kind of a yucky word and it should be changed to gay gal.
I think when it comes to using one word over the other I just kind of use whatever word fits what I'm saying. When I'm talking about gay rights or addressing a group of straight people I use gay. But when I'm just talking about myself with my friends I use lesbian.
I think the word fag tends to go with guys. But this really super right wing conservative guy at school as yelled at me about just because we're fags we think we can have a club. So I guess that includes girls.
But you never hear of a guy getting called a dyke. Though I think I'd like to see someone do so, just to see how the guy reacts. ^.^

 

I think you mean respectively, not respectfully. There's nothing terribly respectful about fag and dyke.

 

I have NEVER heard fag used to refer to a woman.

The way the terms gay, lesbian, and homosexual have developed is really interesting though. I think initially, back in the early days of the modern movement (i.e. pre-Stonewall, Stonewall, early 70s) gay was more used as a catch-all term for men and women. Then lesbian as a term gained popularity (which was probably related to the women's movement and with women not wanting to be lumped with men, which is totally understandable).

I always find it interesting that lesbian is generally a noun while gay is generally an adjective. For instance, I would be offended to be referred to as "a gay" whereas as far as I can tell there's not a negative stigma associated with being called "a lesbian." Of course, PFLAG and some other organisations with acronyms especially use both gay and lesbian as a noun (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), EGALE (Equalit for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) but other you hear about gay men and lesbians, not really gays and lesbian women.

And fag and dyke seem to be nouns. And (to me at least) "homosexual" is a very clinical term these days. You could probably do a Ph.D. thesis about all of it, actually.

 

Men happy in their own sexuality don't seem to have a problem with Homosexual males, but closet cases do, but alot of gay men/women and bi men/women hate Transgender people....

 

I prefer the word gay. Since I'm girly looking, using the word lesbian will probably remind people too much of lesbian porn. It will basically make people think I'm into dick. I think butch lesbians prefer the word lesbian because they can sometimes be mistaken for men.

 

Pretty much. Personally, I have been called a faggot before. However, only online- no one's called me that IRL. It was on a game where a woman found out a guy on the server was gay and she was like "OMG a gay guy! Take me shopping!" and then she found out about me and started yelling "EW YOU (insert username), GET OUT AND LEAVE US YOU FAGG:***:T" or something of that ilk. Seemed kind of hypocritical to me. I'd find it funny if someone called me a fag, since fag means cigarette where I live.

Yes, "gay" applies to lesbians. I tend to use the term as well because I'm lazy and it's shorter to say. The people I don't get are the ones who say stuff like "the lesbians and the homosexuals", but...lesbians are homosexuals though? Isn't that like saying "the brown bread and the bread",...they're both bread, why do the say it like it's a separate category? Hope that made sense lol.

---------- Post added 21st Jan 2017 at 01:13 AM ----------

*they

 

Gay is the adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to people of the same sex. But sometimes lesbian is just the preferred term for women... It's all about preference.