Gay Man

**Gay Man** is a term often confused with vincian, referring to a man/man-aligned/non-binary individual who experiences homosexual or queer attraction to men. The definition also often includes attraction to non-binary individuals, or the term non-women is used, however, the use of non-woman has been criticised by some non-binary individuals who have pointed out that it excludes those who prefer referring to themselves as women or woman-aligned, are multigender, are genderfluid, or have similar experiences.

The term gay man is often used to create a distinction between gay individuals, which includes lesbians and other forms of homosexual or queer attraction, and man-loving-man or non-binary-loving-man attraction. It is also most often considered exclusive attraction, but mspec gay individuals do exist.

## Flags

In 2018 and 2019, gay activist Valentin Belyaev posted his version of the gay man flag in an initiative group in VKontakte to combat gayphobia (homophobia against men) and on Tumblr. It later spread further on the internet and especially spread in the gay activist space. This flag consists of shades of azure and blue, symbolizes the diversity of the gay community and is an analog of the traditional lesbian flag, consisting of shades of rose and red.

A flag often mistaken for the vincian flag was designed by anonymous and Mod Hermy of the @ask-pride-color-schemes Tumblr blog in 2017, named the gay man flag. It was inspired by the lipstick lesbian flag, which is now known as being plagiarised and controversial, and was criticised for its stereotypical blue colour scheme and relation to the controversial flag. A second flag was included in the coining post that was inspired by another lesbian flag, designed by shadowofthedude and Auri.

In 2019, however, the Tumblr Blog gayflagblog designed a flag based off of the aforementioned gay man flag that resolved many of the criticised aspects of it. It is also commonly mistaken for a vincian flag when it is actually a gay man flag. The top three stripes represent community, healing, and joy. The bottom three stripes represent pure love, fortitude, and diversity. The white middle stripe is taken from the trans flag and represents all trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming vincians/gay men. The green and teal in the flag represent nature. The blue gradient on the bottom of half the flag symbolizes how some vincians might be stereotypical, some might not be, and some are in-between or fluid.

Multiple flag variants were also coined alongside gayflagblog's gay man flag, including variants with double mars symbols, the hyacinth, and other symbols.

## Similar Terminology

Multiple synonyms and alternatives to gay man have been created, alongside similar terminology.

* Uranian: a historical term sometimes used to refer to homosexual men
* Patroclian/Patroclic: a term referring to non-women attracted to non-women
* Hyacinthine/Hyacinthian/Hyacinthi: synonyms deriving from Hyacinth from Greek mythology
* Thamyrian/Thamyri: synonyms based on Thamyris is Greek mythology, cited as “the first man to have loved another male”
* Carnatian: a synonym deriving from the green carnation flower, used in as a lapel in Victorian times to symbolize male homosexuality
* Viridian: a synonym deriving from viridi the Latin word for green, a color often associated with male homosexuality
* Casian: a synonym based on the Latin casia meaning "lavender"
* Gayan: has the same meaning as “gay” in “gay man” just as “lesbian” has in “lesbian woman”
* Magnian: synonym made to honor Magnus Hirschfeld.
* Virsic: a term for those who are gay for men, regardless of gender
* Virescin: a synonym coming from the word virescent, meaning greenish. It is also based on green carnations

More commonly terms used consist of:

* Turian/Veldian: describes both gay (mlm/nblm) individuals, as well as being the opposing equivalent of lesbian
* Cinthean: another synonym based on Hyacinth, but it is more known/used in the gay community.
* Floric: a term used for non-woman attracted to non-women, it includes and is sometimes used as a synonym for gay man or a counterpart to lesbian

## Resources

1. ↑ https://archive.ph/1b5tH
2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200604074354/https://valya-belyaev.tumblr.com/post/182766126702/gay-mens-flag-as-soon-as-rainbow-six-coloured
3. ↑ https://archive.ph/mbNvc
4. ↑ https://archive.ph/xmlyt
5. ↑ https://gayflags.carrd.co/
6. ↑ https://mogai.miraheze.org/wiki/Uranian
7. ↑ https://archive.ph/KJhvw
8. ↑ https://archive.ph/tzIZl
9. ↑ https://archive.ph/tzIZl
10. ↑ https://archive.ph/tzIZl
11. ↑ https://archive.ph/tzIZl
12. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20220127035251/https://queeraros.tumblr.com/post/638753963288707072/casian
13. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20220127031837/https://beyond-mogai-pride-flags.tumblr.com/post/621479312786391040/gayan-pride-flag
14. ↑ https://lgbtqiarchive.tumblr.com/post/640480363091804160/i-coined-some-terms-a-while-ago-avirean-being
15. ↑ https://krillfingers.tumblr.com/post/168023218383/virescin
16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220419085910/https://kenochoric.tumblr.com/post/634673292602753024/turian-and-lavenian-turian-also-known-as-veldian
17. ↑ https://cintheanz.carrd.co/
18. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200727085248/https://variant-archive.tumblr.com/post/186685330917/floric-an-orientation-characterized-by-being-a