I said in reply to @DrJ
Please don't hijack the word "different" because you dare not use a word that is actually clear as to its meaning.
Say what you mean. It isn't 'impolite' to do so.
@DrJ said
"impolite" how so?
@agracier said
My first thought was 'homo' - which isn't really polite in my book either. In high school that is the word that students used and it was not a neutral term at all.
And if you use the word 'homosexual', that contains the word 'sex' in it, which many people still find distasteful to use in public, or think is a manifestation of being obsessed with sex. So, this word is also not really neutral.
Mind you, I'm not someone who minds talk about sex in public. I'm just saying that many other people are still uncomfortable with it.
All of that said, it is however difficult to know what exact words and terms to use nowadays, because connotations and unspoken meanings change so rapidly when it comes to matters of sexual orientation. In Dutch for instance, to avoid all the older loaded terms, 'gay' is now in common usage and usually means that the user has a positive evaluation of being gay. And I'm pretty certain gay is also used in French as well, at least in urban areas.
@DrJ - what @agracier said is what I meant. The term 'gay' is the currently accepted term, and if used properly, is unlikely to cause offence to those with that orientation. It is not impolite to use it - but yes, to refer to someone as homosexual does have the problems that agracier stated.
I would argue that to refer to a gay person as 'different' might cause confusion and to some, would probably cause offence. It could come across as seeking to skate around the fact of a person's sexual orientation as if it is unmentionable. Also, 'different' would be more commonly understood as meaning 'eccentric', 'odd', or 'peculiar'. To call a gay person 'eccentric', 'odd' or 'peculiar' might not go down so well. The word 'different' is no better.