Gay, in modern usage as a term of sexual orientation, did, and still does for many, connote being out, open in some if not in all social settings about one's sexual orientation. More and more, in media reporting and commentary and elsewhere, gay is being substituted for homosexual, even when the person being described has previously maintained a heterosexual identity and denies, or does not admit, any homosexual tendency or conduct. Another distinction of meaning gets smeared.