Males, above the
age of consent, who
prefer (for whatever reason)
sex with other males above the
age of consent. (Note: The
age of consent issue is why this is
gay men, and not
gay boys... even though a lot of
gay boys are over the
age of consent, they usually don't act like it.)
Most gay men in my own experience are generally more in-tune with their emotions, and more self-aware, than corresponding straight men. (This truism is why there are fag hags in the world -- women who want to be close to a man, but who are only comfortable with men who understand their feelings.) There are ideas on why this is true; however, there are no scientific conclusions.
This state of being in-tune with emotions is one reason why many gay men strongly identify with music by divas, such as Barbara Streisand, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, and Aretha Franklin. Many of these divas sing love songs, or songs about the world in general, that evidence a sadness about the way things are, and a hope that someday they'll become better.
Sadness is, unfortunately, a feeling not unknown to gay men. The sadness of being ostracised by everyone you knew, the sadness of being persecuted by everyone, the sadness of not being accepted for who you are, even to the point of being cast out by your own family... this last is the reason why many gay men call all other gays 'Family'. Because they're brothers in the pain, brothers in experience, brothers in their lonely fights against the things that they crave to keep the depression away -- sex, drugs, alcohol, and other self-destructive behaviors.