How Language Has Changed For Gay Men

When I first came out in the 90s things for gay men were a little different. I’m not talking about anything involving equal rights. I’m just talking about how things were for gay men within the gay community. Our language and the terms and phrases we used back then have changed…evolved…and there are certain things we would have said back then that we don’t dare say now. 

For one thing, gay men often referred to each other in a campy way with feminine pronouns. “Hey, she’s not well,” or “Look at her tonight,” were things we often said and never thought twice about it. In a campy way, we often referred to one another as “sisters.” In fact, one guy I knew was called “Baby Sister.” I don’t know any gay man who speaks this way nowadays, and I certainly don’t. 

This article to which I’m linking now is interesting because it discusses the evolution of LGBTQ language. For example, they discuss how the word “Queer” has changed over the years. No one I knew in the 90s would ever have used that word unless it was in a campy way or as a pejorative. 

According to Attig, “queer” as an umbrella term doesn’t necessarily resonate with everyone, but using the term as a more general idea or belief system is more on par with the reclamation of once-offensive language.

Here’s more. It goes into more detail and it’s interesting. I still haven’t embraced the word “Queer” as a way for me to identify yet. But I don’t have any problem with those who do. But it took me a while to reach that point of acceptance. I know some gay men who actually resent the word, and what it meant to gay men years ago. And they have every right to feel that way. Back then gay men weren’t called “Queer.” They were referred to “as a Queer.” And from what I gather, that word is still a pejorative in many places to this very day. 

My New Twitter Author Page @RyanFieldAuthor

When I first started to use Twitter in 2008, it was new, and not many people understood how it worked or where it was going. We often joked about it. In fact, I only used it haphazardly back then. I didn’t take it very seriously. But over the years I built up a following that’s a mixed-up match of everyone, from authors to political people to amateur comedians, and I recently decided that I would prefer to have an author page that’s focused on my books, my works in other books, and LGBTQ publishing content. 

So I started a new Twitter account @RyanFieldAuthor. I still have my old account @ryanfield and I’m going to leave that alone for now. I still have a lot of friends and contacts there that I don’t want to lose. But I will be more focused on the author account. I probably won’t have as many followers there as I’ve had with the other account, but that’s okay. I’m more interested in content now than I am in followers. 

If you have a Twitter account and you would like to follow me, you can find me here…  @RyanFieldAuthor The old account will remain the same for now. 

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