quote:
To be honest, the whole over the top rainbow **** that the militant homosexual lobby has pulled has done more to limit acceptance than anything else. When a guy in a bustier, makeup and a**less chaps tells a news outlet that all g a y s want is to be accepted like everyone else; well then...
I think there is a lot of truth to this and not just for g-a-ys but all groups seeking mainstream acceptance.
But you know think about that part of my statement - "seeking mainstream acceptance". When you want this then that means there probably has to be some sort of give and take in how you act in public to be accepted by the majority. Back in the 50's and 60's it was very obvious how the mainstream acted and what was accepted. The lines may be more blurred now in some areas but overall it's still pretty easy to figure out what is accepted by society. The super flamboyant ones seems to want everyone to conform to them when that's not what the majority want. That doesn't mean they can't be like that but it's pretty ridiculous for them to expect the mainstream to turn a blind eye and accept them.
You take a flamboyant g-a-y and an open g-a-y in a group the open one will find much more acceptance than the flamboyant one. That's natural in my opinion. I teach with a guy who's *** but he's not flamboyant nor does he hide it. I have the upmost respect for him because of the fact he's a great teacher and he doesn't force homosexuality down our throats. I've met his partner and he seems like a nice guy. We eat together at lunch with a group of people and all of us sit around and talk about everything. But it doesn't mean I'm going to hang out with him outside of school. The same can be said for the science teacher who's married to a woman because I think he's weird.
The parallel here is that if a guy is on the team and fits in then his teammates will accept him overall. Will they hang out outside of baseball - who knows? But not everyone on a team will hang out with others on the team. There were plenty of guys on my teams I never hung out with.
As for the bullying I pretty much agree with you Speedsdad. It's tough no matter what group is getting bullied and they all feel that nobody understands them and they question who they are. One thing I'm starting to see in schools are the fringe kids who claim they are g-a-y but probably not. They say it to garner attention from the mainstream. These are the kids who have the crazy hairstyle, outlandish outfits - for a lack of better term they are the flamboyant kids. They don't fit in with the other kids who are the brains and jocks and just cool kids. These kids are begging for attention and they figure one way to do is claim to be homosexual.
We had two boys hold hands walking down the hall and it created a stir. We had a few girls say they were dating and kiss in the hallways which created a stir. But the next week they were dating people from the opposite ***. I think things like this hurt g-a-y kids more because I'm guessing it's like a slap in the face. They probably see these kids as joking with something they are struggling with. They see how the mainstream kids handle the posers and it scares them in the attention.
I can't what I put above with absolute certainty but from what I see it leads me to think this way.
Teenage years are tough as it no matter what group you belong with. It does get better as they get older and this is where I think the ad campaign is hitting the nail on the head. But we need to help the kids now as to how to handle the feelings / emotions that come from being a confused teen.
