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This is a subculture problem more than anything else. You might as well complain that people who choose to wear birkenstocks also engage in this behaviour. Obviously we need to discourage wearing of birkenstocks!
There are plenty of us who opt out of that sort of thing. Unfortunately, the stereotype is, to a degree, self reinforcing; people see this kind of thing touted as how "all gays" are, and so fledgling gays, newly discovering their sexuality, think that's "how to be gay" -- because it's a confusing time, and any kind of guidance is manna from heaven if you don't have a really well developed sense of personal identity at that point (and most teens don't).
I despair and despise every day that Drag Race and circuit parties have become the mainstream representation of being gay in the anglosphere.
and gay cruises, gay resorts, gay pride, gay...
The 'other' gay orthodox path in current year is 'marriage' and sometimes gaybies. Though this does not preclude drag, circuit parties, drugs and parphillias.
Calling it a subculture problem seems a little dismissive, especially when any move against it is met with accusations of bigotry or homophobia. Would the Birkenstocked claim bigotry against their sensible shoes?
Largely because there's so much more of it, and it's so accepted by segments of society. Is there any counter messaging that there are other ways to be gay, or you might not even be gay just a confused horny teenager without a regular non-gay outlet for your libido?
Same subculture. This is the problem when you co-opt the name of the entire sexuality for your club...
Yes, but we're suppressed just as much as hetero opponents are. We're accused of being "not real" gays, of being traitors, handmaidens, internalised homophobia, all that good stuff. There's nothing leftists hate more than a traitor, remember.
There used to be a lot of messaging around "it's okay to experiment, it doesn't mean you're necessarily gay" when I was a teen, but that seems to have faded over the years with the rise of the cult-like aspect.
I'm not sure if we were teens at the same time, I was a teen in the 90's. I heard this messaging then too. We would object to being 'labeled'.
Are there enough of you to rebrand this gay lifestyle?
Probably not without outside help or signal boosting, no. The loud, queeny, irritating gays are hegemonic, partially because of the factor I mentioned before, which is that being one of them is seen as THE way to be gay for younger gays just coming out. There's a reason a load of people suddenly adopt the faggy lisp and mannerisms when they come out -- because that's how the TV told them being gay is. Monkey see, monkey do to try and fit in.
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