A Show of Gay Pride

[catfish]

That goes back to what I said. And lust in the mind is well, you know....

[Silver]

I don't see the relevance of that. What is that supposed to prove?

I did not see the relevance of your thinking you were gay at seventeen and associating it with being a liberal atheist, as though sexuality and one's political and/or religious affiliation are potentially inclusive.

[jstrodel]

It was cool to be gay when I was in highschool. Everyone knows in highschool, sexuality is all about who is the coolest (evil as that is to think that producing unwanted children is cool).

[catfish]

Really? You blame peer pressure?

[jstrodel]

I don't know if I directly felt pressured, I thought I was gay, I wasn't faking it, but I really wanted to be cool in high school. The devil has worked really hard to get kids in highschool to think that having sex makes you cool, that is like the dividing line between cool people and uncool people. Homosexuality is like another twist on that, if you are homosexual, that is like another way of that same - sexually active - cool paradigm (reinforced by music, movies, television, etc). The more people hate you for it, the cooler it is. I guess some highschools would be totally against homosexuals, some for it, I used to relish in being an outsider.

Obviously it is more complicated than that, not a conscious yielding to peer pressure, more like values that become so ingrained inside of you. Talking about sex is cool, it isn't cool to care about pregnancy, etc.

I do not think that that is really where homosexuality mainly originates though.

I think people would be wise to put serious decision like whether to identify as a homosexual permanently off until they grow up a little bit. I don't regret it. I don't hate gays and I'm not homophobic. It is a big decision to decide that you are gay and not straight and that is settled.

[Something completely different]

I don't know if I directly felt pressured, I thought I was gay, I wasn't faking it, but I really wanted to be cool in highschool.

?????????????

I guess the least cool thing to be in any highschool anywhere is gay.

I am actualy pritty certain that no other students are as viciously bullied and mistreaded as those who are openly gay.

[jstrodel]

Not if you hang around in punk/hipster/liberal circles. That is true some students get bullied and mocked, etc, and sometimes there is violence. It is a tragic thing. That doesn't change the other side though, where it is cool to be gay, uncool to put off decisions about sexuality until you are in your twenties.

[Neo-Scholastic]

I don't see the relevance of that. What is that supposed to prove?

Some people confuse sarcasm and snarky humor with real debate. It's very common here on the forums. When they cannot defend their position they post some crass image. We're supposed to see how smart they are because they can us Google.

[John V]

For a show of gay pride, why not literally put on a show? Queers are known to be lovers of musical theater.

[CleanShavenJesus]

I thought I was gay when I was 17. I was an atheist liberal then too.

Havn't had a homosexual thought in probably 9 years. It was a phase that I think lasted a total of one year.

This means all atheists are gay!