LGBT - Gay Vocabulary in English

Video Description

It's okay to be gay! And it's okay to talk about it! Learn how to talk about it respectfully. In English, we have many words to talk about gay and lesbian people. I'll teach you what LGBT means, and also give you some slang vocabulary used in the gay community. Keep an open mind, and you'll learn not only English vocabulary, but also about the gay community in the English-speaking world. Take the quiz here: http://www.engvid.com/lgbt-gay-vocabulary-in-english/ TRANSCRIPT 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 band 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".