"You're straight until proven Gay..." my friends and i were talking and this is what eventually came out of my mouth.haha i've slowly realized how true of a statement it is and i want to know what everyone else thinks.:eusa_danc
It's one thing for gay marriage to be legalized and the governement to back you; it's an entirely different one for it to be socially intigrated.
Umm I am going to have to disagree. I am gay, and was gay before ever "proving it". Society can suck it, I am me and if it doesn't like that, too bad so sad. Take this as an example I am of colored skin, I was born that way, I don't need to prove my ethnicity to society for it to be true. No need to parade the streets proving my color to the world so that it can be. thats my opinion on the matter.
I think the norm should be "you're asexual until proven otherwise" or "you're bisexual until proven otherwise". Unfortunately you are right that society views everyone as straight by default currently.
There shouldn't be a norm. These "norms" are why society is so unaccepting of people, it perpetuates discrimination in all forms. These 'norms' are nice ways of saying stereotypes, and ways people should be and act. So again there shouldn't be a "norm", people should be allowed to live without being compared to the "norm" society has put in place. I am not John Doe the gay guy from such and such place. I am John Doe who just happens to be gay and just happens to live in such and such. "Norms" dont and should not define somebody, if we let them its like putting a leash on free person, restricting them, controlling them. Just my opinion.
For me, people are "unknown" until "proven" whatever they say they are, so I'm usually really careful when talking about someone else's relations. After that, I just go along with whatever orientation they want others to think they are, knowing it can still change anyway. However, I typically don't talk about another's love life anyway because it's none of my business and I don't really much care.
Like it or not (and who does), the vast overwhelming majority of people are straight, or identify as straight. Allowing for the assumption that, unless shown otherwise, someone is probably going to be straight is just a convenient application of probability, and is totally ok in my book as long as there isn't any stigma or stereotype or negative connotation attached. Like right or left handers - until they find out otherwise, most people will assume that a stranger is right handed, becuase that's the norm, and I've never heard of anyone having a problem with that. Obviously we're a long way from that, but the principle isn't problematic.
I don't think the quote is referring to your own identity. I think the quote is referring to what society thinks of you, in which case I completely agree with it. Like Amondorensata said, the vast majority of people in our society are straight, so if you assume that any given stranger is straight, you'll be right most of the time. That's what the quote is really about.
I understand what they said. I am mearly saying that i disagree with what the quote is about. I can speak on my behalf that when I see a stranger I dont say in my mind "oh straight until he does something gay" "right handed until he does something left handed". I don't do that, and to me that is stereotyping, which i also do not do. Again this is just me and my opinion on the matter, I see the world "society" differently than the "norm".
Unfortunatly, society places us all into stereotypes and classes and among that we are judged based upon an individuals experiences with different groups. for example, If someone has had only positive and beneficial experiences with someone who is gay they will not perceive someone who is gay as being an issue. By denying labels and the judgement of people you restrict yourself into a form of naivety that i do not believe andyone can risk. How you act upon your judgements is a completely different situation. To say that you do not judge or label or stereotype is a lie, whether one knows it or not, your subconcious makes judgements and labels everytime you meet someone new based on your experiences;usually this is used as a detection of danger referring back to our more primal instincts. The quote merely recognizes that most people are straight, which i believe, will change in the coming decades.
The quote is the mantra I follow when I meet new men for the first time (unless the situation is such that no straight man would be present, ie gay bowling). But when it comes to women, I don't follow anything-because their orientation is irrelevant to me.
"You are [assumed] straight until proven gay." And I have to agree with that. As society simply assumes.
Makes sense. I'd also say you're "right handed until proven otherwise." Nothing wrong with that, but I never go to my friends and say "oh, I didn't know you were right handed".
According to that quote, everyone would have had to classify Sean Hayes as straight until March of last year. I don't thank so.
