There is a great deal of diversity within and across LGBTIQA+ communities LGBTIQA+ people are not a homogenous group. Competent use of LGBT relevant language and an affirmative approach to inclusive communication can help support LGBT people to feel welcome and able to disclose who they are when seeking help (Brooks, 2018 MacCarthy et al., 2021). Negative outcomes do not stem from being LGBTI but are driven by the fear of, or actual, discrimination via institutions that are important in the lives of young people, including schools, health services and welfare services (Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), 2015).
Discrimination is associated with being bullied, homelessness and a range of negative socio-economic and health and wellbeing outcomes (Perales, 2016). While legal protections are afforded in Australia, LGBTIQ people continue to face significant stigma and discrimination (Hill, Bourne, McNair, Carman, & Lyons, 2020). Improving access and engagement to appropriate services is important due to the poorer mental health and substantially higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide experienced by LGBTIQA+ people compared to the general population (Perales, 2016). In health settings, a lack of inclusive language can lead to clients not disclosing whether they are LGBTIQA+, not discussing topics related to their gender or sexuality, or refraining from seeking help (Brooks et al., 2018). The assumption that people are heterosexual, cisgender or have sex characteristics that fit medical norms for female or male bodies has a negative effect on the health, education and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ people. The glossary can be used alongside the CFCA guide to LGBTIQ+ inclusive language. See also homosexual.The information in this resource sheet is intended to help service providers and practitioners create safer spaces for LGBTIQA+ clients. This argument is weakened by the fact that the sexual meaning has long been the dominant one, and thus permeates all usages of gay.
It has been argued that gay in the sense “awkward, stupid, or bad” is independent of the sexual sense, and therefore not homophobic. How do gays feel about this? But usage as a singular noun is usually perceived as insulting. Today, the noun often designates only gay men and is usually used as a collective plural: gays and lesbians. After World War II, as social attitudes toward sexuality began to change, gay was applied openly by gay men to themselves, first as an adjective and later as a noun.
This sexual world included gay men too, and gay as an adjective in the sexual meaning goes back at least to the late 1930s. A gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay house a brothel. The word gay has had various senses dealing with sexual conduct since the 17th century. The sexual orientation meaning of the word gay has become so predominant that people hesitate to use the term in its original senses of “merry, lively” and “bright or showy.” But the word's association with sexuality is not new.