homosexual, gay, lesbian.

[viet_ghat]

I know, homosexual = who do sex with the same sex and heterosexual = who do sex with the opposite sex.

But I wonder what "gay" and "lesbian" means. When I looked up in my dictionary, it says they both homosexual. I can't understand clearly. Please help me.

[2006]

"gay" can refer to both, as in 'gay rights', but mostly refers to males. Lesbians are females.

[viet_ghat]

Thank you.
Is the word homosexual includes both gay and lesbian?

[Anglika]

Gay men/women and lesbians are all homosexual.

[Nightmare85]

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Usually gay only means that you are sexually attracted to the same gender as you.
Although the word lesbian is exclusively used for women, you can say:
"She is gay." - okay
I believe when you use gay as an adjective (but talk about women) it is okay.
That means it would be unusual to say:
"The city is full of gay women." - not okay

Edit
Okay I have just checked some dictionaries, and they say:
"Gay woman" is okay

Cheers!