Language, just like clothing, hairdos, and tattoos, is a major factor in how we shape our identity and create our self-image. The words we choose to use and the way we use them speak volumes about our character, culture, and education. All in all, about the way we are. This is especially valid when it comes to using words belonging to a vocabulary shared by people of a certain social or professional group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not until recently, concepts and labels for sexual identities didn\u2019t quite exist. Even the simplest of the words, \u201cgay\u201d, was not used in its alternative meaning as \u201csexually attracted to people of one\u2019s own sex\u201d until the 1930s! However, there were other words that described homoerotic desire and its various manifestations. Some terms were self-created, and others were callously imposed on gay and bi men. Browsing through the queer slang lexicon from the old times is a lot of fun. There, you find all kinds of funny, long-forgotten words for homosexuals like \u201cfriend of Dorothy\u201d, \u201cpansy\u201d, \u201cfruitcake\u201d, \u201cNancy boy\u201d, \u201cpillow biter\u201d, \u201cshirt lifter\u201d, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the beginning of this century, the LGBTQ vocabulary list has been constantly expanding. Over the course of the past year only, more than a dozen new gender and sexuality terms were added to the Oxford English Dictionary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are the most interesting additions among them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enby<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just five years ago, no one would use the term \u201cnon-binary\u201d in relation to a gender identity that is neither male nor female. Today, it has become so widespread that it has already yielded its own synonyms. Like the word \u201cenby\u201d here, which is, in fact, the phonetic pronunciation of the abbreviation NB. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Muxe <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pronounced \u201cmoo-say\u201d, this word is derived from Spanish \u201cmujer\u201d (woman) and used by the Zapotecs, the indigenous people of Juchit\u00e1n, Mexico, to refer to the third gender. A muxe would describe themselves as neither a woman nor a man. Or, rather as \u201ca man who has the thoughts of a woman.\u201d Being a muxe is not synonymous with discrimination. On the contrary, muxes has been respected and celebrated as an essential part of the local culture for centuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n TERF<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Or \u201ctrans-exclusionary radical feminist\u201d. At the dawn of its existence, the term was intended to be a neutral description, but it quickly grew to become a derogatory one. And not without a reason. All modern TARFs believe that trans women are really men, and men are\u2026 well\u2026 the evil oppressors of women. These feministic groups treat trans women as predators and trans men as victims of patriarchy. In other words, they don\u2019t like trans people at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Brotherboy\/Sistergirl<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pronounced \u201cbrothaboy\u201d and \u201csistagirl\u201d, these terms are used by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to describe transgender people. As you can probably guess, a brotherboy is a person who is assigned female at birth but has a male spirit, and a sistergirl is the opposite version. Both are very inclusive terms as they can be appropriated by everyone, including cisgender people. It is a historical fact that prior to the colonization era, diverse gender presentations were celebrated on this continent. That\u2019s why, you\u2019ll often hear the aborigines say that the gender-binary thing arrived \u201cwith the boats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bakl\u00e2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The word is in Tagalog – an Austronesian language that is the basis of the standardized national language of the Philippines The correct pronunciation is \u201cb\u0250k\u02c8la\u201d, and is the closest Filipino word for \u201cgay\u201d. However, \u201cbakla\u201d does not necessarily denotes a homosexual man. Typically, it refers to a cisgender male who is effeminate in appearance and manners – you know, a guy who\u2019s cooking, taking care of the children, darning socks\u2026 The opposite of \u201cbakla\u201d is \u201cbinalaki\u201d, meaning literally \u201cmade a man\u201d, and is used to describe lesbian Filipinos. However, gay, bi, and non-binary people can choose to go by either of the terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Multisexual<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I guess we gonna need one more letter added to the now-existing abbreviation LGBTQ, and that\u2019s M – for \u201cmultisexual.\u201d This newly-included word refers to a person that is attracted to several different individuals with different gender identities and sexes. I\u2019d call such amorous inclination \u201csexual gluttony\u201d but who am I to have a saying in this serious sociolinguistic business? As an example, OED cites a Twitter user saying that they do not identify themselves as bi but more like grayasexual and \u201cwhen I do feel sexual attraction it\u2019s to more than one gender so I usually say I\u2019m multisexual.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For last, I left a word, which, despite its misleadingly apparent meaning, is used by neither the tea lovers nor the teetotallers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teahouse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Colloquially used in U.S. slang, this word is also included in OED with the meaning of \u201cpublic restroom in which gay men engage in sexual acts with other men.\u201d The \u201ctea\u201d part probably evolved from the British gay slang for \u201curine\u201d, and, by extension, toilets became known as \u201ctearooms\u201d. So, be careful when you ask for the nearest tearoom when in the States, because instead of having a cup of herb tea in a regular caf\u00e9, you may find yourself being fucked through a glory hole by men who do not necessarily are into tea. <\/p>\n