Can I substitute "a male homosexual" for a gay and "a female homosexual" for a lesbian?
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Ostap,
(1) You have asked a very sensitive and delicate question that must be
answered in a very careful manner.
(2) If you wish to be "socially correct," I believe that people now refer
to the GLBT community, i.e.,
gay,
lesbian,
bisexual, and
transgender
community.
(3) Here in the United States, I believe, people who wish to be
"socially" correct refer to someone as being "gay" or "a gay." I agree with
the other posters that the word can apply to both males and females.
(4) If you come to the United States and keep referring to people as
"homosexual," some people would interpret that as meaning that you
do not approve of that particular orientation. For example, there are
some organizations and individuals that oppose that orientation and
refuse to use the word "gay." They feel that using the word would
show approval of that particular orientation. They often criticize the
"homosexual lifestyle" or "homosexual agenda."
Bottom line: If you do not wish to hurt anyone's feelings or
anger anyone, you should stay with the noun/adjective
gay.
P.S. Of course, in medical or psychological literature, it would
not be an insult to use the word
homosexual (if, for example, the
writer were also referring to
heterosexuals).