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The advantages of being gay

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by Optimist, Jan 5, 2013.

  1. Optimist

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    What are the advantages of being gay?

    To name a few I think these are a couple advantages:

    - More self-awareness, I think because of the self-conflict you are having it's impossible to not become more self-aware of yourself. Also you get a habit of seeking the truth and you also free yourself from the social pressure around you, because since you've been suspecting yourself you have started questioning thinks such as the social pressure around you. To confirming (/denying in some cases) your suspicions you also freed yourself from the social pressure around you because you now know which are really you and which features of yourself are imposed on you by the outside and are not really you and thereby not making you happy... This is something that most people who are straight and never had to questioning themselves, are missing. Of course you have many straight people who do question things and have a philosophical state of mind.. Also on the other hand there seem to be some people who put it to the other extreme which is: abondoning all features ( some of which are really them and not imposed from outside) and then build up a new identity which is also really not themselves and they're still unhappy because they are not being themselves. This is in fact also social pressure because you think that society wants you to act different and you start behaving like this stereotype which is not actually you.

    - You gain a lot of tolerance towards other people. This is of course logical since you experience your own struggle and liberation and because of this you show solidarity towards other people who are also struggling. This would include every minority neglected by society. And, what I think is also part of this, is that you don't judge people faster because you don't know what somebody's motives are: where he/ she comes from and what he/ she is going through.

    - Another advantage is that there is still a lot of potential of happiness. The way I see it is that one of the ingredients to be living happy is to have love. This means that when you are coming out it means that you have never been able to have the genuine feeling of being in love. This means that when at the moments you are feeling happy now, some time in the future you will even be more happier because one of the ingredients of happiness was always missing. What I'm trying to say is that there is still a lot to be gain and that when you are able to be happy now, while still in the closet and not living complete, it will be even better when you're out.

    Thinking of this keeps me out of depression and drives me forwards. Maybe there was already a thread of this but I haven't been able to find it. Do you have some comments or other advantages to add?

    One love,

    Optimist
     
  2. Incognito10

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    I think you've identified several valid points. I know I am probably more in tune to my feelings, or self-aware, because by being gay, we're forced to examine deep feelings and emotions that straight people may not. We likely learn adversity from a young age as well. I know that being gay has really helped me learn to repsect humanity and rights and to always stand up for ethical behavior.
     
  3. Rexmond

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    This might not apply to everyone, but certainly for me an advantage of being gay is that it makes me truly happy because I couldn't imagine being any happier than when I'm with the man of my dreams. :slight_smile:

    It's definitely this that keeps me going everyday.
     
  4. Jameson

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    Men are awesome!!! ;D