What is "homophile"

1960, from homo- (2) "homosexual" + -phile. An attempt to coin a word for a homosexual person as part of a social group, rather than a sexual deviant.

a. 1 (context dated English) homosexual, gay or lesbian, having a sexual or romantic preference for persons of one's own gender; (non-gloss definition: used to emphasize love over sex). 2 (context chiefly historical English) Of or pertaining to the “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophile”, a gay activist movement. n. (context dated English) A homosexual, a gay man or lesbian, one who has a sexual or romantic preference for persons of the same gender; (non-gloss definition: used to emphasize love over sex).

adj. homosexual or arousing homosexual desires [syn: gay, queer, homophile(a)]

The word homophile or homophilia is a dated term for homosexuality. The use of the word began to disappear with the emergence of the gay liberation movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, replaced by a new set of terminology which provides a much clearer identity such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, and in the 1990s terms like queer came along and then collectively the LGBTQ tag become popularized. In the present day it is LGBTQIA, still it is all considered under the umbrella term "Homophilia".