Like any modern language, Hebrew has to have words that reflect modern-life attitudes and concepts. The English gay, which meant “lighthearted” in previous times, has come to mean “male homosexual.” Many universities have a department for gay studies, usually now known as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).*
New Hebrew words either translate the English term (such as kef for “fun”; zmanekhuti for “quality time”) or use a word that sounds like the English, as with ge’eh and gay. The feminine form is ge’ah, and the “gay pride parade” is mits’ad ha-Ga’ava. Universities, including the religious Bar-Ilan, have ha-ta’ ha-ge’eh “The (Proud) Gay Club.”
*LGBT is abbreviated in Hebrew as ב״טהל (lesbiyot, homo(seksual)im, transjenderim, bayseksualim); ga’avah lahtabit is “LGBT pride”; agudat ha-lahtabim is “(the Israeli) LGBT Association.”
Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA.
