There was a time in this country when gay meant happy. When did it change from 'happy' to 'queer'?
2006-12-21 09:44:59 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
It was sometime in the 80's when political correctness started to come into the picture. I don't know how the word Gay was chosen or why, but it was about the time when gays started to come out of the closet and not be ashamed of who they were.
2006-12-21 09:56:40 · answer #1 · answered by Sara 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Within the gay community, it was used starting in the 1920s (check the works of Gertrude Stein and Noel Coward), and perhaps as early as the 1860s.
The straight community started using it in the 60s.
2006-12-21 09:49:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
A passage from Gertrude Stein's 1922 novel, "Ms. Furr and Ms. Skeene" is the first usage of the word in connection with a homosexual relationship (in this case, between two women).
Over the years, Noel Coward, Cary Grant and Oscar Wilde used it in the same ways.
2006-12-21 09:54:54 · answer #3 · answered by Jeff 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
well gay means happy and queer means odd or strange. look it up in a dictionary and you will see that is the meaning of those words. So in the context of homosexuality it is just slang. It depends on what context you are using those words. I use the words gay and queer all the time, but not in that context to which you are referring. I use it in the actual meaning of the words.
2006-12-21 09:49:18 · answer #4 · answered by sesamenc 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I believe it was somewhere in the 70's. They didn't ask me if it was all right if they could change the word gay in the dictionary to include queer. One way or the other. I would have said NO.
2006-12-21 10:04:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Gay still means happy.
2006-12-21 10:15:13 · answer #6 · answered by chuck 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some time in the last 35 years or so. I can remember being able to say things like "what a gay day..." and meaning gay rather than sad.
2006-12-21 09:48:36 · answer #7 · answered by Stewart H 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
if you go to www.wikipedia.com and type in "gay", there's a whole history on the usage of the word in the English language, not to mention it's etemology (it's roots in other languages and such). This explains it pretty well, it's worth a look.
2006-12-21 09:51:43 · answer #8 · answered by politicalcompass65 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sometime after the 60's... remember in the Flintstones theme song? ".... We'll have a gay old time..." It still meant "happy" back then.
In the 80's everyone was saying it was an acronym for "Got Aids Yet?" Then when heteros starting catching it, suddently that wasn't funny anymore... lol
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2006-12-21 09:47:05 · answer #9 · answered by I hate friggin' crybabies 5 · 4⤊ 2⤋
I think it's always been both, it has just been used differently over time...before it was used as "happy", nowadays, it is used more for "homosexual."
2006-12-21 09:48:38 · answer #10 · answered by ny2la_usamex 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋