The word “gay” is most commonly used to describe people who are physically and romantically attracted to people of the same gender (male or female). Simply put
- men who have sex with other men, and fall in love with men, and
- women who have sex with other women, and fall in love with women.
While the word is used for both men and women, gay is more often used to describe men while women describe themselves as lesbians.
Sex, gender, and sexuality
Before we say more about sexuality (being gay) there are some basics we should cover first:
- sex (assigned at birth)
- gender; gender identity, and gender expression
- sexuality
Often lumped together, they are different parts of who we are.
