Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 7/1/84; site CSL-Vax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!zehntel!dual!amd!decwrl!CSL-Vax!hartwell From: hartwell@CSL-Vax.ARPA (Steve Hartwell) Newsgroups: net.motss Subject: Re: gay?? really?? Message-ID: <2755@CSL-Vax.ARPA> Date: Sun, 12-Aug-84 21:35:15 EDT Article-I.D.: CSL-Vax.2755 Posted: Sun Aug 12 21:35:15 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Aug-84 01:24:48 EDT References: <50600001@convex.UUCP> Organization: Stanford University Lines: 32 The first time someone asked me that question, I was irked with him; I said that the first meaning of 'gay' is still "mirthful excitement", and if he didn't want to use the word because of his dislike for its alternate meaning, that was HIS problem. I still feel that way, but the comment has come up so often now that I realize that it is pointless to exchange resentment for resentment over it. I believe he term was originally coined in the 19th century by the press to refer to female prostitutes, and was first incorporated into its current alternate meaning sometime in the early 60s, but I can't for the life of me recall why, and would be interested if one of our gentle readers would follow this up if they can tell me. So what sort of response do you want? Do you want us to "give it back"? Apologize? Come up with some clever reason why 'gay' is the best word to describe ourselves? That's not the way language works. Ever wonder how the term 'straight' was coined? I don't know; perhaps it comes from the cliche of one who "follows the straight and narrow path", which may have been at one time a virtue. It doesn't seem that way to me now -- it sounds like it would describe a narrow-minded person. Maybe that's how it was intended to mean; if so, that's too bad, as I certainly have no interest in soapboxing that claim. The question does raise a more discussable topic, perhaps one brought up before: many of us make a genuine semantic distinction between the words 'homosexual' and 'gay', though often how we define the difference varies greatly. I would be interested in seeing some discussion on this. I think I'll mull this over a bit and post something on it in a few days. -- Steve Hartwell, Computer Science Lab, Stanford University {ucbvax,decvax}!decwrl!csl-vax!hartwell, hartwell@SU-Shasta.ARPA