# ぼくはゲイです



## Kaato

Hey, In 3 weeks time I'll be traveling to Japan (my first time leaving Australia )
for a couple weeks, and i want to know the most appropriate way to inform people that I'm gay.

When I had Exchange students come to my town, i either used ぼくはゲイです I'm gay, or 男が好きです i like boys. The girl who understood this seemed to reference some Japanese movie about a gay romance called ボイズラッブ　haha. 

I think this made sense but some of the students still seemed a bit confused. So I'm wondering what the best way to tell them is.

I've read a little bit about how this is perceived in Japan, and while I'm not going to go shouting it to old people in the street, I think most teenage girls would be ok with it.

どうもありがとう！


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## almostfreebird

In this new era, I don't think there're many people that have a bias against gay. So "ぼくはゲイです" is OK, I think.

I remember hitchhiking when I was in the US years ago, a guy pulled over and said to me "I'm gay" politely, and I said "I'm not gay" then he said "OK, good night" and pulled out.


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## Δημήτρης

I don't know, I feel the Japanese like the periphrastic ways better. At least in some character profiles I have read, if a character is gay, they write 男が好き. 

May I add a sub-question? 
What about 同性愛者? Does it sound too medical? In English "homosexual" and in Greek "ομοφυλόφιλος" are avoided for this reason.


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## Flaminius

男が好き is too crude because 男 sounds overly sexual, with very little implications to gender or something more cultural, social etc.  While ぼくはゲイです is the most versatile one, I think I have heard gay TV figures comment on themselves 男の子の方が好き.


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## Δημήτρης

I have to admit that both 男が好きand sound a bit... sexualized to me, due to my cultural background, but I thought it was just me. So it's the same in Japan/Japanese...


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## almostfreebird

You can say "ぼく、すこし　ゲイです。or　ぼく、ちょっと　ゲイです。（I'm a little gay)" too. I think that sounds more comfortable to straight people.


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## Flaminius

Do you hear that in real life situations?  If you want to soften your statement, I'd recommend:
ぼく、ゲイなんだけど / なんですけど。
[The former is a casual and the latter a formal, speaking style.  If your audience is teenage girls, use the casual style. (I shall spare you a long story as to how style is important in Japanese )]


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## Wishfull

僕には　ちょっと　ゲイの気（け）があるんです。　？？


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## Kaato

haha, Δημήτρης , i said 男が好き quite a lot when the exchange students came, i hope i didn't sound to much like a creep.

Thanks everybody for your thoughtful responses. I think I'll stick with almostfreebird and Flaminius' responses.

ありがとうございます！


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## Δημήτρης

Interesting construction 


> ぼく、すこし　ゲイです。or　ぼく、ちょっと　ゲイです。


but we do I think we would use this only jokingly and not if we want to let someone else know about our sexuality?


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## almostfreebird

I had remembered while I was watching this thread that in South Park episode(season 1, episode 4), at the beginning of it, being asked if he was gay Trey Parker answered "I'm...a little gay!".
So I thought that if Trey Parker could speak Japanese,
he would say "ぼく、ちょっと　ゲイです。"(^_^；


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## lammn

Do people use the word おかま at all?


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## almostfreebird

I think "おかま" is more commonly heard than "ゲイ",

but "おかま" doesn't sound fashionable, it sounds rather comical because of 
gay TV personalities like おすぎとピーコ, IKKO and so on.


"おかま" originally means "尻"(shiri). http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch/0/0na/04500703551400/


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## Δημήτρης

Isn't okama a word for transvestite person? Why compare it with ゲイ?


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## Flaminius

Originally, it was the female rôle, or the one who plays it, in men's homosexual relationship.  In the Japanese society today, it is closely associated with gay TV figures or those in the show biz with brassy fashion and feminine attitude.


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## GreekNative

I'm wondering, isn't おかま used for "faggot"? If not really, is their a closer term for "faggot"?

どうぞよろしく。


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## Δημήτρης

So it's an offensive term for effeminate (gay) men.

How about ホモ? Is it also an offensive word?
And そっちの人 is an euphemism for "homosexual"?


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## almostfreebird

To me
ホモ is a strong and serious word and could be much more offensive than おかま.

おかま is a light word because,like flaminius said, it's closely associated with gay TV figures(mostly comedian type).

There are lots of おかまbars(gay bar) in big cities, but never ホモbar, I mean they never say ホモbar.

To me the word ホモ sounds more like faggot.


""And そっちの人 is an euphemism for "homosexual"?""
It depends on context. It could mean Yakuza(mafia) depending on context. 

So I think the word "ゲイ" is just enough to be acceptable.


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## almostfreebird

Gay TV figures:

いっこ(super beautician)　　http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=top_ga1_sa&p=ikko
おすぎ(film critic)　　http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=おすぎ&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8
ピーコ(おすぎ's brother)　　http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=ピーコ&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8
ＫＡＢＡちゃん　　http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=ＫＡＢＡちゃん&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8
美輪明宏(most famous okama in Japan, not comedian)　　http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=美輪明宏&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8
カルーセル麻紀(got rid of his penis long time ago)　　http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=カルーセル麻紀&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8


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## Δημήτρης

That helps understand the cultural extensions of the words. 
By western standards, いっこ, 美輪明宏 and カルーセル麻紀 would be referred as transsexual persons.

--


> ホモ is a strong and serious word and could be much more offensive than おかま.


Interesting. I watched a manzai act on youtube and the comedian was supposed to be a gay guy and he referred himself as ホモ. I suppose comedy is not the best place to learn the proper use of slang.


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## Kaato

i wouldn't want to use おかま because i don't consider myself a gay stereotype or feminine　at all, and wouldn't want to be thought of like that...

so 僕はゲイですけど/だけど would sound more serious and less joking then　僕はちょっとげいです/だ？


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## almostfreebird

Kaato said:


> so 僕はゲイですけど/だけど would sound more serious and less joking then　僕はちょっとげいです？



Actually yes. I don't think,though,there's anything wrong with saying "ぼく、ちょっと　ゲイです。" It'll make the conversation comfortable being less serious and the person you're talking to may ask you if it's a joke or not and the conversation starts moving.


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## almostfreebird

Δημήτρης said:


> What about 同性愛者? Does it sound too medical?




No, it doesn't sound medical(医学) to me, it sounds "academic language(学術用語)".


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## BurakUeda

Not many people here (or anywhere in the world) introduce themselves with their sexual preferences (i.e. I have never introduce myself as: Hi I am Burak, and I am heterosexual/straight). So at first people might take it as a joke if you tell them "僕はゲイです" or "ちょっとゲイです". 
同性愛者, on the other hand is a very formal term, and I think they will get the message immediately.


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