I'm a female mostly interested in other females, and I've found I prefer referring to myself or being referred to as gay over lesbian. It just feels more natural and more like me. I don't have any problems with the word lesbian or anyone who identifies with it, of course, it just doesn't seem right for me. If I say "I'm a lesbian" it seems uncomfortable and strange, but if I say "I'm gay" I'm completely comfortable with that and it doesn't seem weird at all, so I've been using it as a label instead. I'm not exactly looking for advice, just curious to hear if any of you have similar experiences with this or what your opinions are on the subject.
I think gay is the more suitable word,but it can be a little confusing if used for both cis males/females and trans females/males.I think that's the reason we use the term lesbian.
I also prefer the word "gay" over "lesbian", although I'm not sure why. I think people are more used to hearing "gay", so they react differently... And "gay" just sounds nicer I think XD
I'm not keen on lesbian at all. I think it has a lot to with it being longer, the sound of your voice meandering a lot when you say it, the bilabial plosive in the middle, sounding clinical and the fact that it's a noun rather than an adjective like 'gay' (e.g. a tall, smart gay woman vs a tall, smart lesbian). I like queer. Because of the 'weee' sound and because it almost spells 'queen' :icon_bigg
It might seem weird but I don't like the way lesbian sounds (even if it is the proper term), so I usually refer to homosexual women as gay.