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The use of words like gay, faggot and queer in a sexuality context all have their origins in association and obscuration to avoid addressing the subject directly.
Gay because of the presumption that homosexuals were in a constant state of 'feminised' excitement (the old misogynist 'hysteria' myth shifted to 'those people'), faggot (a bunch of sticks used to start a fire) suggesting that homosexuals should be disposed of in the traditional manner, queer because there is something not quite right about 'them'.
Gay as a word has gone through a curl in terms of parlance, the happy label stuck on the homosexual, the homosexual considered to be a bit incomplete or disappointing, the association of the word gay with the homosexual allowing it's meaning to morph into something that is a bit rubbish and not fully functioning.
Before those words terms like sodomite and pederast were kicked around which aren't very nice and aren't accurate.
The sins of the the sodomites as laid down in the Old Testament seem to boil down more to not offering hospitality to travelers rather than homosexuality specifically (the sexual acts mentioned are as much heterosexual as homosexual) and homosexuals are attracted to members of the same gender not children (the predatory homosexual corrupting young boys myth).
Even bugger is inaccurate as it describes a sexual act (often performed by heterosexuals and not by Lesbians without the aid of a prosthesis, and not always practiced by homosexual men) and not a sexuality descriptor.
Homosexual as a word can be a bit of a problem depending on where you put the emphasis when pronouncing it.
If you say hom'o'sexual that refers to people sexually attracted to people of the same gender (male or female).
If you say home'o'sexual that refers to people sexually attracted to men (which includes heterosexual women).
It's just so much easier if labels aren't used you don't get this sort of linguistic obsession with food types.
Are there a plethora of words for people who like to eat broccoli?
Sexuality has a lot in common with taste in food, it's often not fixed, given a chance some people will experiment but others will never change their habits and religious laws have a lot to answer for in terms of placing too much importance on the issue.
