When I was a kid we used the word homo....not gay. We called someone a homo to put him down. I like using that word more better!
The dirty little secret is that homosexuals don’t like the word “homosexual”. There is currently a slow and relentless effort to turn the word “homosexual” into an antiquated word that polite people will no longer use - - much like the word “negro”. Trust me on this. They want “gay” to be the default word people use when referring to homosexuals. They will have a problem with this effort, however. Blacks are normal people, while homosexuals will always be perverts.