homophile

[ hoh-muh-fahyl ]

noun

1. a gay person, especially a gay man.

adjective

1. advocating or supportive of the interests, civil rights, and welfare of gay people:

   a homophile activist organization.

homophile

/ ˈhəʊməˌfaɪl; ˈhɒm- /

noun

1. a rare word for homosexual

Word History and Origins

Origin of homophile¹

First recorded in 1945–50; homo- + -phile, on the model of homosexual

Example Sentences

And how many now identify as “homophile,” “invert” or “female husband”? Identity categories fall by the wayside continuously as understandings of gender, sexual orientation and the relationship between them changes.

From Washington Post

More than a dozen such homophile groups had been established in cities around the country in the previous decade.

From New York Times

Homosexual was in more common usage, and pro-gay advocates were called homophiles.

From Reuters

Early “homophile” organizations educated their gay and lesbian members about “lewd vagrancy” arrests and how to avoid them—“wear at least three items of clothing of your own sex” was a common refrain.

From Time

In California, here’s groundbreaking gay activist Harry Hay getting ousted from Mattachine, the “homophile” group he started, after the middle-class men and women it attracted began to reject his communism and aim instead for respectability.

From Washington Post