LGBT - Gay Vocabulary in English

Hi, everybody. It's okay to be gay. Did you know that? Did you know that in Canada, we

have one of the highest gay populations in the world? So guess what? If you're thinking

of coming to Canada to study English, you've got to be careful. You've got to wake up.

You've got to change your mind. You've to change your thinking if you are homophobic.

"Homophobic" means you do not like or are afraid of gay people. So here's the lesson.

Here's a head up: Don't be ignorant. Don't be stupid. Listen to what I've got to tell

you. I'll teach you some very interesting facts. You must keep an open mind. In your

country, maybe there are no gay people. Guess what? They're all coming here. You have many,

many, many, thousands, millions of gay people living in your country. There are gay people

everywhere all over the world, so get used to it. We're here. We're queer. Get used to

it. You go, girlfriend.

So check this out. We have this umbrella term -- as some people like to say -- called "queer".

"Queer" means "LGBT". Now, apparently there are some other letters after that, but they're

too long and complicated for me to explain to you because I do not understand them. One

thing that you have to be through this is understanding. Everyone is not a clear-cut

image of what they should be. Some people hide things. "You have a penis? But you are

just like a woman." Wow. Surprise? Go to Thailand. "Queer": lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender.

Let's go through what these mean. A lot of the times, you'll see "LGBT community" or

"LGBT-friendly". This means if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, come on in. Sit

down. Have a coffee. We don't care what you do behind closed doors.

So "lesbian" -- a lot of people know from adult videos, and a lot of people like adult

videos of lesbians. But do you know that there are real people that are really lesbians and

they're not all beautiful porn stars? Oh, no. Lesbians are girls who like girls. If

anyone's familiar with the bland Blur, you might know this song.

"Gay" can mean both "lesbian" and "gay", but we usually use it for boys who like boys.

"Girls who like girls who like boys who like boys" -- then we have "bisexual". Do you know

that in English, "bi" means "two"? "Bicycle" -- "bisexual". "Bisexual" means if you're

a boy, you like boys and girls. Anything goes. You're like, "I'll have that one and that

one -- yeah. All of them. Come on. Let's go." Okay? We have slang for this. You could say,

"He or she swings both ways." Badda, badda swing. So this means that they like boys and

girls. Cool. Options are open.

Another one that is in this acronym -- the T, "transgender". Now, "transgender" is a

little bit difficult for me to explain to you, but I will try. "Transgender people"

mean they are born with either male or female parts. For example, I was born with woman

parts, but in my heart, in my soul, I don't think that I am a woman. I think that I am

a man. So maybe I will wear men's clothes. Maybe I will outwardly look like a man, but

I still have the female body parts. The same would go for a man who is transgender. This

means that he has the man parts, but he feels like a woman. "Feel like a woman." Oh, yeah,

it's karaoke time with Ronnie. Okay. So this means that the man may dress like a woman.

Maybe they're very sexy. But then, it's a man. Cool. No problem. Don't be surprised.

Just keep an open mind.

We have some slang terms for lesbians. Now, please be careful when you are using slang.

I don't care what the situation is; I don't care what the word is; be careful. Some people

are sensitive. So we use the words "dyke" and "butch" to mean "lesbians". For gay men

-- because they're men -- you have "twinkie" and "bear". Isn't that cute? From what I understand,

a "twinkie" is a man who is very cute. Maybe he is younger. Maybe he acts a little bit

more like a woman. Did I mention he's cute? He's so cute. Usually has beautiful, beautiful

clothes. Again, I might be stereotyping, so I have to be careful. And a "bear" is a man

who maybe, to you, looks more like a man. Now, "twinkies" are easier to see because

they would be more effeminate, which mean they look more like a girl. "Bears" look more

-- kind of like a bear -- like a man. They usually have a beard. They're usually muscular

and hairy on the chest. So sexy those bears. So cute those twinkies. I don't really know

any slang words for bisexual people. The only thing that I know is "somebody swings both

ways".

We have other terms for people who are gay. Somebody might say, "Hey. Have you seen Sharon?"

"Oh, yes. She's sexy." "Unfortunately, Sharon plays for the other team." This means she

is a lesbian. Or you might see a very handsome guy named Bob, and your friend says, "Bob

plays for the other team." "Well, I play football with him on Monday nights. He's on my team."

This means -- if someone "plays for the other team" -- that they're queer; they're lesbian

or gay. Surprise. Football players can be gay. Loads of them.

Another word for "bisexual" is that somebody "switches sides". So that means they go from

one sex to another sex freely and happily.

One thing that's really difficult for people to maybe understand or to realize is, is the

person gay? Maybe in your country -- as I said before -- people hide being gay. That's

cool. If you're ever in doubt, don't stare; don't laugh; don't look stupid. If you want

to, you can ask them. It's an easy question. You can just say to the person, "Are you gay?"

Believe me. They will tell you yes or no. So if you're worried about someone being gay,

please ask them. Do them the common courtesy of asking them before talking about them.

One way to find out without asking them, if you're a little shy, is some people will volunteer

the information. They will say something like, "My partner is a good cook." "Do you have

a business? Your business partner?" No. No. Usually -- not all the time -- but usually,

if someone refers to someone as their "partner", it does mean that they're gay. But again,

not all the time.

There's another thing that's slang that we say is called a "gaydar". Oh, it's so clever.

It's actually the word "radar" -- "gaydar". Get it? Ray, gay, radar, gaydar? Good. So

"gaydar" means someone is very, very good at detecting or understanding if a person

is gay or not. So some people have a very, very good gaydar. They can point out a gay

person a mile away. This is a good skill to have especially if you are gay. If you are

sitting on the subway and you see a handsome boy or a sexy girl and you want to say hi,

just do so. Don't be afraid. Jump right in.

We have something in Canada that is huge. It's called "Pride", "Gay Pride". There's

a huge parade, I believe, on Saturdays -- one Saturday every year. There's a lesbian parade

-- or the "Dyke March". And then on Sundays -- usually Canada Day or before Canada Day,

there's the big, big gay parade. There are lots of naked people. So if you'd like to

see naked people, come to Canada this Sunday, and you can see lots of gay people walking

on the street. You can take pictures and send them back to your mom. This is what I've seen

in Canada mom. Would you like one? Bye. Be gay.