The LGBT Thread

[Moniker]

Timely, maybe. In the US, my generation has spoken out against ridiculous Old-Testament bigotry and is continuously gaining traction. It would seem hypocritical if I didn't offer my own views & desires. (It's convenient that I can do so in complete [NSA-notwithstanding] anonymity.)

Based on the film Kinsey, I judge myself to be a 2 or 3 on said scale. Seen exactly two male-folk on the street to whom I was attracted. Oddly, none that I know/knew personally. Still, not enough drive to expose myself to friends and family. Catholic upbringing (bleh). Cowardice, yes, I recognize, but I imagine if I'd fallen in love, things would be much more different and complicated.

Anyone care to speak out?

[neorocker]

Queer issues are something I care deeply about given my own place in the spectrums of homosexuality and gender, but I feel you. While I have no trouble talking to my friends about what I am and exchanging ideas and personal views on the subjects, I've never felt particularly safe around my family in that regard thanks to old-world ideologies that, no matter how much they "joke" about them, are very real parts of their own views.

[Domino]

I'm straight but god forbid you are not straight in my family.

[gct]

I'm straight but god forbid you are not straight in my family.

Same. My family are cool with other people being gay, but they would freak if I happened to be gay. It doesn't help that I haven't been in a relationship for the last 7 years, Dad still isn't 100% convinced I'm straight.

Wish all the rest of you good luck and courage in your struggle for acceptance from those who matter to you (and in the word of law!).

[CStarFlare]

At our office Christmas party, a coworker's girlfriend asked if there were any gays at the firm and he said no, and that we "wouldn't last here." I guess I should move on?

I take stuff like that in good humor, but I really do need to get away from my small hometown. I spent a week in London and was delighted to be in a city where the entire gay population isn't married and on the down low.

So why don't I move? I like my job and would feel bad for leaving them after only a year.

It would also be nice to put some distance between me and the family. They "know" but don't know and are probably not that upset by it, but I do think life out of the closet would be easier to transition to without my family looking over my shoulder.

[Mischief Maker]

I take stuff like that in good humor, but I really do need to get away from my small hometown. I spent a week in London and was delighted to be in a city where the entire gay population isn't married and on the down low.

So why don't I move? I like my job and would feel bad for leaving them after only a year.

Are you working that job to improve the quality of your life, or living your life to improve the quality of your job?

[SuperPang]

I would totally blow Idris Elba. Just sayin'.

[CStarFlare]

The former, obviously. On my previous job hunt I found that most firms around the country weren't looking to hire people with less than two years of experience (except for a firm in Glilette, WY ). A local firm wanted me, so they got me for the time being - I'll start sending resumes this summer. "I like my job" helped me stick it out here rather than start back over elsewhere in the country (if I could find something) or jump industries altogether.

[Ruldra]

My brother once went to a party where the guys dressed as women and girls dressed as men. My dad saw the pics, thought he was at a gay parade and completely lost his shit. It took a long time to convince him that my brother isn't gay.

My mother, whenever she sees a gay person, is quick to say what a sad state of affairs the world is in and how the end of days is coming. She also said multiple times how horrible it'd be for a mother to find out her child is gay/lesbian.

They're good people but most of the old generation just can't truly accept LGBT people. I totally understand why most people decide to stay in the closet. Being shunned by your family is a terrible thing (saw that happen first-hand to someone I know).

I'm straight but I have no problems with them. What makes someone happy is nobody's business and people should respect that.

[Bananamatic]

man this thread is hella gay

[BareKnuckleRoo]

They're good people but most of the old generation just can't truly accept LGBT people. I totally understand why most people decide to stay in the closet. Being shunned by your family is a terrible thing (saw that happen first-hand to someone I know).

I know someone in his 40s who is financially well-off, has a house, is self-sufficient, but is still so worried about his parents losing their shit over him coming out that he won't come out. That, and apparently he works in a homophobic environment (his job is protected from that kind of harassment, but he'd have to lodge a complaint and it'd have DRAMA written all over).

It's horrible to say, but the old generations will eventually fade and things will change for the better, even if it's gradual and over the course of years or decades it'll change. "Don't listen to the douchebags of the world."

[Ixmucane2]

man this thread is hella gay

Yes, that's the general idea.
It seems that there are many more men than women in this forum.

[cools]

I've been wondering about the acronym recently. Surely the L is redundant and adds gender bias to it, which would seem to go against what's actually wanted?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

It depends on who you ask. Some people prefer "gay is for guys, lesbian is for girls", some people don't care either way. You could really make the acronym all-encompassing and gender non-specific and just use HBT, but chances are the acronym LGBT's been around so much that everyone's used to it and it's unlikely to change.

[trap15]

It seems that there are many more men than women in this forum.

Are you surprised?

[drauch]

It seems that there are many more men than women in this forum.

Are you surprised?

x1000. This made my day.

[BulletMagnet]

man this thread is hella gay

Still second place to the "Post Your Picture" thread.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

^

You mean third place. That GaijinPunch fan thread got pretty darn gay.

[CStarFlare]

It didn't "get" gay. It was born that way.

[TransatlanticFoe]

It's a sad indictment of society that we should have to praise people for coming out. Your sexuality matters about as much as the colour of your skin or the country you're from.

Wait, we're still hung up on those too?

I really don't understand why people have to be dicks to each other for no reason other than they're not the same as them.

[Khan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQoLxsVV6vs

Sorry had to be done

[Obiwanshinobi]

Who is the society anyway? Would you like to be caught playing a videogame where homosexual male is the protagonist? I know some cRPGs went there (Fallout 1 or 2, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Persona 2: Innocent Sin) but it's optional in those.

[KAI]

Sometimes I cross the borders, sometimes.

[Moniker]

Who is the society anyway?

In my view, it's a matter of organized belief systems. Doesn't matter if you're a devotee of the Pope, the Ayatollah, or Bill O'Reilly. Whether due to a lack of time or inclination, many people prefer to choose a side and cheer-lead rather than think for themselves.

As a person of Catholic upbringing, it took me quite a lot of self- and ideological examination to reach a point where (I think) I'm honest with myself. Getting from point A to B in this is really very difficult. Enlightenment thinkers thought they had got the better of organized belief, but here we are, 300 years later, and a parish priest and a baptist minister on every corner. Not to mention CNN's and Fox News's acolytes. The latter probably more dangerous than the former, at least in the US.

Not that I am denigrating faith. Too many people close to me have received essential comfort and direction from spirituality. But I only respect spirituality insofar as it's honest.

With my parents, it is not honest. With my sister, it is. Only insofar as 'society' - meaning the vocal majority - is honest, can actual positive change happen. Perhaps the wide dissemination of information and opinion provided by the internet is creditable for this change. In any case, it's certainly not a matter of moving from right to left, or the opposite; it's a matter of inward- versus outward reception of ideas. And I think, for now, history is on the side of the former.

[Ruldra]

Would you like to be caught playing a videogame where homosexual male is the protagonist?

Does it really matter? If you found out the protagonist of a random game you like is gay, it wouldn't stop you from playing it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Does it really matter? If you found out the protagonist of a random game you like is gay, it wouldn't stop you from playing it.

Where are those games, then? I can't remember schoolkids discussing any when I was a lad.
Now we 'round here all know about visual novels and such, but those must be still far from something most folks would play in public.

[Bananamatic]

What's wrong with Ketsui

[Xyga]

What who never played Bridget and thought 'how cute' ?

There aren't many but search LGBT video game characters and you'll think 'oh yeah forgot about that one'.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Bridget is optional, just like choices in the aforementioned cRPGs. Not a defining feature.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The problem is that a lot of the games with gay characters that quickly spring to mind it seems are either affectionate or flat-out over the top parodies of stereotypes (Ash from Streets of Rage 3 comes to mind, hilarious, but clearly not meant to be taken seriously). We get it, campy gay guys and butch lesbians are hilarious stereotypes, but if you're making a game with a character and you have to constantly emphasize "this character is gay!" in your design, you're just making them into a token gay character. At least with something like Persona 2, it's clearly intended to be natural (one of the designers said that the Tatsuya/Jun pairing should be the canon one) without feeling like it's forced.

I mean, how many action games are there with characters whose sexuality is unstated or flat-out irrelevant? I mean, if it's not an RPG or a dating sim, or if sexuality simply never comes up, who cares what their orientation is? The only reason people notice/remember those few games with gay characters is usually because it makes a big deal of emphasizing that you're playing someone who's gay. I don't think it helps the whole equality thing if you have to point out how special and different a character is just because he/she fucks the same gender. Not every game with a gay character has to directly involve fucking or flirting with said character. It's a lot better in my opinion when the game has LGBT characters but completely downplays the importance of them being gay (a lot of good examples here).