Excuse me if someone is offended, for the native English speakers, I believe gay means also happy or cheerful, is this right (q mark) In that case, what was first, the use of the word to name happy people or homosexuals?

KIWI IN OZ

Happy joyous etc... came before homosexual. My first encounters with the term in relation to homosexuality would have been in the 60's or 70's before that they were known as queers or poofters. May 21 03, 2:00 AM

Gnomon

The use of gay to mean happy is the original meaning and goes back hundreds of years. The use of gay to mean homosexual has only been around since the 1960s. It was thought up by the homosexuals themselves as a name which they could be proud of. All the previous names were insults. May 21 03, 7:20 AM

Linus

The use of the word 'gay' was adopted by the homosexual community in the 1960s, when homosexuals suffered even greater prejudice than they do today. The word 'gay' was adopted as an act of defiance, and stands for 'Good As You'. May 21 03, 8:23 PM

underscored

Enid Blyton. an English authoress of children's books, introduced the characters Noddy - a wooden boy and his friend Big Ears, during the period 1949-1963 these characters were often portrayed walking down the fictional town of Toytown ' Feeling very gay' Meaning of course. happy. The word cannot be used in this context now, it has a definitive meaning. After this time period it was still a number of years before homophobia was frowned upon. Oct 06 12, 11:04 PM