Are Gay People Amusing?

[certified Hotti]

... So me and my friend who is also gay were walking down the street and as we passed a group of people who were standing in a yard, they began to look our way and laugh and talk about us in spanish thinking i wudnt understand. and let me just say these were GROWN people. I mean as a gay guy im pretty used to people staring at or whispering about me when they see me, just like many other LGBT people out there, but lately it seems as tho people have taken it way too far. I mean ive had a couple of people str8 out just point and laugh at my face. I dnt do anything amusing to cause that so what else can it b? I never even thot it was THAT noticeable that im gay, but i guess i was wrong. I mean it doesnt really bother me, i just laugh it off and move on, but i just find it so disgusting that some people are just THAT rude. My gay and lesbian friends go through the same thing and its just so annoying.

Sometimes i get really close to confronting people about it, but i have to hold myself back bcus they already dnt like me, and confronting them about it will just make things worse. ugh!

That is rude.

I have noticed since coming out that people all of a sudden think it's okay to ask you really personal questions. Even when they do not know you that well, or it's not an appropriate time to ask. I am like w.t.f.

[certified Hotti]

i know right? same here. also like they want to ask all kinds of things about being gay and stuff!! its like "ummm research"!

[Greggers]

Ive had people flat out ask me "Are you gay?" when all i was doing was sitting eating my burger and fries. (And i was wearing black on black on black, not very flattering OR gay...)

Ive had people throw popcorn at me and call me a faggot when i said something about Ryan Renolds at one of his movies (They didnt think i could hear it, but they suck at wispering)

Ive had iced coffee drinks thrown at me, i dont know if that was because they thought i was gay but the people in this town dont just throw iced coffee drinks at any old person. (Coffee is more important than your children)

Ive had people introduce me as "the gay friend" to their friends when at a party. (Yea, i told them off for that one. Thats just...ugh...)

...and so much more, im not going to even bother going on longer.

My point here....crap, too much venting and now i forget. Well basically, if someone does not know many gay people then we become somehow "amusing" to them. I was at a petting zoo the other day and i saw a pure white peacock. That was amusing, because ive never seen one before. Well, gay people are the same. We are the white peacocks of people.

There is only one problem with this: We are not a different species of human. There are no differences between a homosexual and a heterosexual apart from the gender we feel attraction to. Its about as big a difference as a person with blue eyes and a person who brown eyes to be honest. Once people understand that, we are no longer white peacocks. You cant really do much about this with the people who taunt you while walking down the street, but what you can do is make sure the people close to you understand you dont want special treatment because your gay. If they are under the impression your "the gay friend" you should really nip that in the butt. People are not defined by their sexuality. I would much rather be "the loyal friend" or "the blatantly honest friend".

It gets worse when your straight friends start asking if you like x person or y person. Just cuz they're the same sex as you. And then you'd ask them the same thing and they just shut up about it.

[Pasalacqua]

Originally Posted by joem29

It gets worse when your straight friends start asking if you like x person or y person. Just cuz they're the same sex as you. And then you'd ask them the same thing and they just shut up about it.

This.
When my one guy friend found out, he's like "Oh, do you have a crush on *insert best friends name*?"

Um. No.

And he would pick out random people we had class with and ask me.
Are you fucking serious.

[stratavos]

I'll state it to you simply. More often than not, yes, we of the LGBTIQQ community seem to be more interesting as people.

A lot of us are much more dramatic and know how to act, so we are entertaining to say the least.

[littledinosaurs]

Originally Posted by Pasalacqua

This.
When my one guy friend found out, he's like "Oh, do you have a crush on *insert best friends name*?"

Um. No.

And he would pick out random people we had class with and ask me.
Are you fucking serious.

Isn't it good that they are showing curiosity in a positive way.
I mean sure you could be annoyed, but they are taking interesting in this new part of you, aren't they?

[thevre]

It depends... my one dear friend just absolutely loves gay people. She made a clear point of going to the Out Gear store thing in Rehobeth... which definitely had only very little to do with me being there.

And then there are the complete rude people... I was at a fair with 2 friends and this group of like ten girls just walk up (I was wearing a black hoodie, long black shorts and Converses, and my sunglasses with the rhinestones on the side) and started talking to me, about 2 sentences in the one girl goes "Are you gay?", then completely screams to another friend across the street about it. At first, I was like wtf... then I just started sitting back and enjoying the attention. They were way too interested.

[GhostDog]

I notice, too, that in the media, gay characters are subject to a slew of stereotypes, and gay characters are rarely, rarely ever the main focus of the story. (And, yeah, straight characters have an ass-ton of stereotypes they're subject to as well, but in popular media, gay characters rarely develop beyond stereotypes.) If they're not used for comic relief, they're almost always there to either offer support or a contrast to the Main Hetero Couple, and if anything bad happens, it's usually to the gay character(s). Because then, of course, a story can have a gay character in it without actually looking like some kinda gay show or somethin'. They get their rainbow cake, and then said cake eats it, too.

(I'M SORRY FOR LINKING YOU GUYS TO TV TROPES, I'M SO SORRY. Beware the time vampire!)

It's probably symptomatic of societal attitudes towards homosexuality in general, rather than the cause, but I'm of the opinion that one feeds the other. (Still, it's a huge step that popular shows/movies/books even have gay characters in them at all, so hey! Even if we're on the sidelines, at least we're even in the stadium!)

But it probably (at least partially) stems from a lot of people not having much exposure to the LGBT community, apart from these kinds of media portrayals. Stories with actual developed LGBT characters aren't usually marketed to straight audiences, ergo, straight audiences rarely see them. So the likes of "Will and Grace" may be as much exposure a lot of people had to The Gay, and even then I know a lot of people who specifically didn't watch it because it had gay characters in it. (But I do live in Texas, so eh, hardly surprising.)

So we're still strange to a lot of people. Strange usually equates to being funny, a curiosity, a novelty, or maybe even a threat. For a lot of people, it may be easier to laugh it off and marginalize us than actually bother to think about it. (After all, if you think about gay people, or god forbid, talk to them, you actually turn gay! It's a Truth Fact!) I'm willing to bet most of these people don't actually know anyone gay, though.

But this is, of course, very official research by a person on the internets! So, uh, I could be full of it, haha.

[Possibly Maybe]

Originally Posted by joem29

It gets worse when your straight friends start asking if you like x person or y person. Just cuz they're the same sex as you. And then you'd ask them the same thing and they just shut up about it.

^^^
I'm familiar with that. I understand that they were trying to understand me, but i once had a friend of mine actually pointing at girls at a gig shouting at my ear "So, do you fancy that one?" I just wanted to disappear into thin air...

[Jeimuzu]

They don't like your glasses?

[malachite]

Everyone has something that makes them feel crappy about themselves, and if you look carefully you can usually see it, even in people you just met or pass by.

If someone makes you feel bad share that feeling with them 100%

"Is somethig funny chia? Becuase I couldn't help but smell that 8th grade perfume you seem to have bathed in this morning. A shower helps to cover up the B.O. much better. I mean my God the Government should bottle that smell and drop it on our enemies! Excuse me I have to go throw up now."

"I couldn't help but notice those skimpy clothes you're wearing. Is it becuase you're getting old and the bag boy at the market isn't looking at you and asking if you need help to the car anymore? I mean I'm not judging you, but dressing like a 40 year old hooker does make you seem kinda desperate. I'm sure though that you're sunny personality will more then compensate your total lack of class and looks."

Poke that sharp stick people. POKE THAT SHARP STICK!!!!!

[carrie90]

When I was in high school I was sat eating my lunch and I had someone just come over to me and ask "are you the lesbian?" which I think is quite rude and when I said yes she turned to her friend and said "omg that's so wierd she looks normal" I really wanted to confront her about her rude comment's but since it was in school I didn't want a scene so I let it go

[malachite]

Originally Posted by carrie90

When I was in high school I was sat eating my lunch and I had someone just come over to me and ask "are you the lesbian?" which I think is quite rude and when I said yes she turned to her friend and said "omg that's so wierd she looks normal" I really wanted to confront her about her rude comment's but since it was in school I didn't want a scene so I let it go

It sucks how those bad memories always stick with you.

[Étoile]

GhostDog, I'm trying my hardest not to click on those TV Troupes links. I spent 2 hours on it one time and didn't even realize! You can literally spend your whole day on it.

Anyway, it's the unknown factor about gays that mystifies and peaks peoples' curiosity. A lot of people haven't seen a gay person on TV let alone in person. They base their thoughts of gays by what they've heard or think is the truth. When they come into contact with us, especially flamboyant gays or butch lesbians, many don't know how to act. Some may become scared and leave. Most stare and whisper. Some may become jerks and say something rude. Some revert back to childhood and pester you with really personal questions. Once they see and get to know more gays, (hopefully) they'll hardly react when they're around them.

It's like wearing an outfit that you know will get you attention; accept peoples' questions, unless it's incredibly rude, and ignore the mean folk.

[HazMattic_Force]

wow i have it luckier at my school we have about 10 openly GLBT members [ehh some bi and stuff] so ya i don't get it all but if they ask i just flat out answer " i m gay you have a problem ?" and once i got a yes and he called me a faggot ... teh next day he had 2 death threats from my friends[ish] and one more from me ...... so ya my school still has getting picked on which i get alot but i have very knife happy friends who love to stab people so it isn't to bad .....