- Joined
- Sep 23, 2011
- Messages
- 5,384
kenny|1354999621|3326365 said:I'm old and honestly did not find out what "gay" meant till I was in my 20s.
"Nice" people in the 60s just did NOT discuss that.
Today kids are exposed to the subject early.
What did you think you were before your 20's?
I recently attending an open forum, where someone addressed how Pride has become a commodity. It has, especially here in SoCA and other larger cities, but for areas where being "gay" is not normalized, it is an opportunity to define a being to someone who doesn't know what it means to be gay, and needs to be "set free". It baffled me. I sat there, in shock. I can't imagine not knowing what is "wrong" with me, because there's nothing that can "explain" me, feeling as if I am the odd one out, the "freak".
Curious what it was like for you, before you knew what gay was. What "were" you?
My close friend detailed it as being a "freak", when I asked him. But we grew up in a different generation. We eventually knew what gay was, so he only had to deal with a few short years of confusion.. during an age where everyone else was just as confused. He didn't suffer any more for being gay.
The conversation will come up naturally when I discuss this with my children-to-be. No need to talk birds and the bees with a 4 year old. 14? Look at the internet if you want to know the anatomical descriptions and practices. My approval, or non-approval, will not affect any one's sexual orientation. If someone allows their parent to dictate their sexual orientation, they're not gay or straight; they're sheep. And I'm sad for them.