Re: Homosexuality and gender identity

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> To bring this back on-topic: many natlangs have syntax which varies
> depending on the sex of the speaker (or the addressed, or both).
> Has anyone developed a conlang which has such variance based on
> self-selected gender identity or sexuality?
A few words in Kash have sexual identity connotations (the Kash are mostly
bisexual by our standards, or polymorphous perverse or whatever....About 10%
are exclusively same-sex oriented, another 10% exclusively hetero). This
state of affairs seems to have evolved from the strong male-bonding seen in
the wild Cousins (for hunting purposes).  Male Kash are always ready for
sex, but the women only during their 10-day "period" every three months or
so. Over time, women have discovered/invented various hormonal/pheromonal
substances to promote receptivity and enjoyment, but it takes a certain
amount of planning.... Though I haven't really thought about it, I have the
distinct impression that aside from begetting and rearing children, Kash men
and women pretty much go their separate ways.

kambra 'friend' absolutely neutral
karam 'close friend (m/f), not sexual'
karanji (+ci 'dimin.') ditto, may or may not involve sex
karande (+leñ 'good') very close and implies there is a sexual relationship,
but most likely casual or not terribly serious even if frequent (and on 2nd
thought, it might be used for a very strong Platonic m/f relationship)

Male to male terms: (based on mambre 'brother')
marem 'close friend, buddy; member of one's circle of friends', no sex
marenji slightly more intimate, maybe/maybe not sexual
marende even more intimate, definitely a sexual relationship of some sort,
but not as serious as "sisa" 'lover/partner'

Female to female (based on suya 'sister')
susa - susaci - susale -- same distinctions.

nayasít (naya+sila 'kind-three= third gender') is used by, or to describe,
someone who is exclusively homosexual

nimésapo (<naya+mesa+po 'kind-one-just') ditto for the exclusively
heterosexual.

(Hmm, I wonder if my ISP spam filter will sequester this, due to the subject
line...several msgs. with odd subjects have been trapped lately... including
those with "...shaven"; for a while "yer ugly mug" wasn't getting past
either. :-))))))