原帖由蓝纱枫于2005-08-21, 10:40:37发表
摘录一段网上的内容，仔细看就可以明白相关单词的意思了。
女性的同性恋者叫lesbian，没错。不过我要指出的是，女的也可以叫gay，因为gay是统称，不仅仅只是指男的，这也是为什么新闻里会经常出现gay men这种说法的原因。不过一般来说，大家还是比较习惯用gay来形容男的，用lesbian来形容女的。
下面一段话是从dictionary.com上摘录下来的，供大家参考。
The word gay is now standard in its use to refer to homosexuals, in large part because it is the term that most gay people prefer in referring to themselves. Gay is distinguished from homosexual primarily by the emphasis it places on the cultural and social aspects of homosexuality as opposed to sexual practice. Many writers reserve gay for males, but the word is also used to refer to both sexes; when the intended meaning is not clear in the context, the phrase gay and lesbian may be used. Like the other names of social groups derived from adjectives (for example, Black), gay may be regarded as offensive when used as a noun to refer to particular individuals, as in There were two gays on the panel; here phrasing such as gay members should be used instead. But there is no objection to the use of the noun in the plural to refer collectively either to gay men or to gay men and lesbians, so long as it is clear whether men alone or both men and women are being discussed.
还有一点要强调的是，gay这个词虽然有很多意思，其中包括鲜艳、喜悦、活泼等等，但是在美国，这个词基本上已经被视为“同性恋”的专用词，所以你如果想说喜悦，用joyous，joyful，merry，gleeful，但不要用gay。
顺便说说自己的看法，对于同性恋者来说，他（她）们只是某些取向和我们不同而已，这是他（她）们的自由，我们应该理解他（她）们的选择。而不应该用有色眼镜看待他（她）们。
沒錯
想想如果今天換做是你被別人用異樣眼光看待會有多難受就好了
人要有同理心去善加對待他人
否則總有一天自己也會遭受同樣的報應的
其實人之所以為人，就是因為每個人都不一樣，不是嗎
不光是這個問題，在其它問題也是一樣
我們不能因為少數人在某件事上與多數人不一樣就對他們有歧視的現象或心存成見
想想如果今天換做是你自己被他人如此對待，你會有多難受
每個人有每個人的個性興趣和價值觀，我們沒有權利去強制別人接受自己的思想或強迫他人和自己一樣
同樣的，別人也沒有義務要跟你一樣
