Origin of Everything

[intro music] When did the word "gay" stop meaning happy and start meaning same-sex relationships?

And how did it happen?

By now, we're all pretty familiar with the word "gay" as a term that means: "people who express or experience same-sex sexual attractions."

Sometimes, this is aligned with genders, such as "gay" being specifically assigned to men in same-sex relationships, while "lesbian" is applied only to women.

Other times, "gay" is just more ubiquitously used to describe a range of relationships that aren't heterosexual, but for the majority of its history, the word "gay" had little to do with same-sex relations.

It meant "happy" or "bright and lively looking."

So, how did "gay" shift from a word to describe a good mood to a word that encompasses sexual identity?

And why?

Well, to get started on this etymology, we first have to ask: What were some of the earlier uses of "gay"?

Well, as I mentioned before, "gay" has a variety of rather benign uses dating back as far as the 13th century, that range from a person being described as "joyous" to also saying that something is brightly colored.

And, not to sound like the beginning of every terrible high-school English paper, but I did a quick etymology run-down on the word "gay," and found some now rare and out-of-date uses that are also pretty cool.

One meaning was to be "fine or showily dressed."

Another was, "noble, fine, excellent," and another still was "lighthearted."

But my favorite underused meaning of the word "gay" is probably "the gay science," which translated means: "the art of poetry," which started around the 17th century and is sometimes noted as the translated title of Friedrich Nietzsche's 1882 text.

So, thanks, dictionary, and also, thanks, Nietzsche.

Okay, so we've gotten over the hurdle of early meanings of "gay," but that brings us to our next question: When did "gay" become associated with sexuality?

So, it seems like that timeline started in the 16th century when some early meanings of "gay" were associated with being hedonistic and in the 18th century, "gay houses" was a term for brothels.

But even though those definitions of "gay" were associated with sexuality, it doesn't mean that they were explicitly linked to same-sex relationships.

So, when did that change?

Well, before "gay," the more common term to describe same-sex relationships or people who expressed any kind of same-sex or non-normative desire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was "homosexual."

But this term was linked to the common belief at the time that same-sex attraction was a psychological disorder that could be treated and cured.

Along with this rise in medical intervention, there were also a number of sodomy or anti-gay laws throughout the world that sought to criminalize consensual gay sex.

These laws were widely enforced in the U.S. and UK until the mid-20th century, although many of these laws remain on the books around the world.

And in April of 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed regret over the UK's role in spreading similar laws around the world, where 37 of the commonwealth's 53 member nations still have anti-gay laws enforced or on the books.

But the practice of considering queer desire an illness has been denounced by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association since 1973 and 1975, respectively.

However, the shift to using "gay" in the common language took a bit longer.

"The New York Times" didn't adopt the use of "gay" until 1987, although it still doesn't use it in all contexts.

But now, GLAAD lists "homosexual" as an offensive term in their Media Reference Guide, supplementing "gay" as the appropriate stand-in.

But it was around the mid-20th century that the use of "gay" to describe sexuality often but not exclusively for men, became more common practice, although there are examples and uses of "gay" to mean same-sex relationships and attractions tracing back to the 1920s.

In his book, "Words Out: Gay Men's English," scholar William Leap traces what he terms "lavender linguistics," or the rhetorical and linguistic strategies used by gay men to communicate amongst themselves and with the broader world.

He draws on scholar Joseph Goodwin's theorizations of the "double subjectivity of interpretation," which means that messages require the interpretation of both the speaker and the receiver to make meaning.

Leap notes that phrases and meanings in gay men's English often operate this way with double meaning present that require other types of knowledge for them to make sense.

For example, in an article for "The New York Times" called "The Decline and Fall of the 'H' Word," Professor George Chauncey notes that uses of "gay" in queer communities often operated as a code so that people could express same-sex desires and language without it being picked up on by others who would respond negatively to them.

Chauncey is quoted, saying, "A lesbian could say she met a gay gal the night before, and her lesbian friend would know exactly what she meant, "while her straight boss would have no idea what she was talking about."

And by the 1960s, "gay" became a banner for communities who fought under the mantle of "gay liberation," arguing for the decriminalization of same-sex relationships and equality in all aspects of public life.

Groups organizing under the Gay Liberation Front after 1969 as well as activist Frank Kameny who coined the phrase "Gay is good" in 1968, helped to bring the use of the word as a symbol of pride into wider use.

So, "gay" was repurposed and taken up in positive contexts of self-identification and group communication after the latter half of the 20th century.

So, how does it all add up?

Well, it seems like earlier iterations of "gay" were most commonly aligned with positive things, like joy and bright colors, but as time rolled forward, we started to see "gay" first aligned with ideas of hedonism, brothels, and then, later, same-sex relationships.

But colloquial usage in the 20th century by queer communities saw the word repurposed to replace more contentious medicalized terms.

By the 1960s, it was associated with increased visibility and human rights for marginalized communities and gained traction as a marker of pride and self-identification.

And today, the term has been adopted in conversations about gay rights and civil rights, precisely because of prolonged activist engagement.

So, it seems like despite, or maybe in spite of dictionary definitions, everyday usage can radically impact the meaning and scope of a single word.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

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