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As the saying goes (may have been Wanda Sykes)... Nobody has to "come out" and announce to the world they are black, white, Asian. Black folks don't face fear of being kicked out of their own homes, ostracized from church and community and beaten and rejected by family members...because they are black.
The challenges of being LGBT are compounded from pressures at home (where one is supposed to be safe) and from society at large.
I agree with this!
That the fear of family rejection especially is moreso of an issue for LGBTQ persons. I know with my sister that was a HUGE issue with her and she didn't "come out" until she was in her 30s due to her belief that we may shun her. We laugh about it now because she had been with her girlfriend for 10 years before she "came out" and all of us knew she was a lesbian. But our parents are very religious and she was afraid of saying it out loud due to that. Luckily, Dad, who is the most religious actually laughed about it and told her he knew she was gay since she was a teen and he wasn't going to throw her out of his life just because of that. He also really loves her girlfriend. Luckily even though my family is religious they are not overly judgmental with their religion and the motto is "love the sinner, not the sin." FWIW, I am an atheist and to them am a worse sinner than our gay and lesbian family members lol. But they love me too and and hope that eventually I'll "come to my senses" and accept Jesus as my lord and savior.
Family life is always difficult, but like your quote says, and I do believe it is from Wanda Sykes (love her BTW) you don't have to "come out" with your race. If you are black, white or Asian, people will see you as such and treat you accordingly and that is what I am saying is a big difference when we are speaking of sexual orientation and racial issues and how they are not entirely equivalent.
And FWIW, there are a lot of positive stereotypes about gay people, especially as it relates to gentrification as it is commonly said that "once the gays move in property values go up" contrast that with if a black doctor moves in a white neighborhood people will be worried about property values going down. White gay people are also stereotyped as being very well off financially and of course there is the dress well stereotypes, etc. Contrast this with black stereotypes and you will see what I mean. Even though I don't agree with all of the gay stereotypes, gays in today's society do not have a predominantly negative view in general society like black people are thought to be thugs and uneducated and unmarried and on drugs and have attitude problems or are overly aggressive, etc. No matter what we do throughout history, these negative views of us persist. Though many (mostly religious people, I am not religious BTW) always have a negative view of gays, they don't see you as a threat to their persons or property like they do black people.
All of what residinghere said(!!) but especially the quoted, above. Gays are in many ways more aptly compared to Asians of Chinese and Japanese ethnicity than to Blacks. The positive stereotypes of Asians so completely outweigh the negative stereotypes that, as a group, it is very possibly that high attainment Chinese and Japanese Americans actually do better than Whites in America!
The other poster who thinks anyone has a problem with gays is missing the essence of the problem. It isn't the 'Gayness', it is the same sex, the open same sex behavior that turns off mainstream America. Haven't you noticed that even heterosexual behavior is shunned and frowned upon in neo-Puritan America? Dozens of highly paid executives lost their jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines were levied against broadcast networks when Janet Jackson's nipple was glimpsed by much of America during an entertainment segment. Gay men can be as effeminate as they want and it will not affect their earning, housing or the treatment they get in fine dining establishments. A black person had better be as white as they can possibly act if they hope to have any chance at obtaining the minimum cooperation from others around them.
It is because the positive attributes of what is considered Gay so outweigh the negative that there has even been a push on the part of straight people to fight for marriage equality on their behalf. Gays need to understand that straight, uptight, America doesn't really want to know about what is going on between two people of the same sex. They don't even want to know what is going on between two people of opposite sex! Being Gay really is an issue only to Gay people. I had a Gay supervisor and a day didn't pass when some aspect of his sexuality wasn't on the table for discussion material. I never discussed my sexuality or sex life with him or anyone else. If Gays could eliminate the sexual aspect of their... gestalt... from consideration, what would be left? People. Men and women... plain old regular, people. What is so wrong with just being people? What is so wrong with keeping gay sexuality a private matter the same way heterosexual people have to do?
I have been taken to task for suggesting that black people haven't advanced since the Civil Rights Act. Well, maybe we have and maybe we haven't but recent polls suggest that ant-black sentiment has actually increased over time and in 2015 it is higher than it has ever been. So any legislative progress has to be tempered by the material realities of the innate 'colorism' of American life. Yes, it is fair to say that America is more 'colorist' than racist because much of the poor treatment black people receive is in direct proportion to the melanin content of their skin. Very light skinned black people do much better in America than very dark skinned black people. Gay people are people first and the intrinsic advantages or disadvantages of their assigned racial and ethnic group will trump any details of their sexuality. How can anyone argue with this? Someone lying unconscious on a hospital gurney... how in #$%$ can you tell if they are Gay or not? But you can tell if they are male or female! Or can you? You can pull off the sheet covering them and that may provide more information. Their color... no brainer. And it is proven through research that a black person lying on a hospital gurney will not get as good care as a white or asian person lying on a hospital gurney.
The point of this thread was that Gays really should not liken their struggle to the Black struggle and with this I must agree.
It's perfectly natural. And even if it weren't, what's natural about ongoing use of a computer or wearing eyeglasses? Since when have humans been confined to all things natural?
Ever species on earth, culls the freaks, different, and weak. Humans are no different.
That the fear of family rejection especially is moreso of an issue for LGBTQ persons. I know with my sister that was a HUGE issue with her and she didn't "come out" until she was in her 30s due to her belief that we may shun her. We laugh about it now because she had been with her girlfriend for 10 years before she "came out" and all of us knew she was a lesbian. But our parents are very religious and she was afraid of saying it out loud due to that. Luckily, Dad, who is the most religious actually laughed about it and told her he knew she was gay since she was a teen and he wasn't going to throw her out of his life just because of that. He also really loves her girlfriend. Luckily even though my family is religious they are not overly judgmental with their religion and the motto is "love the sinner, not the sin." FWIW, I am an atheist and to them am a worse sinner than our gay and lesbian family members lol. But they love me too and and hope that eventually I'll "come to my senses" and accept Jesus as my lord and savior.
Family life is always difficult, but like your quote says, and I do believe it is from Wanda Sykes (love her BTW) you don't have to "come out" with your race. If you are black, white or Asian, people will see you as such and treat you accordingly and that is what I am saying is a big difference when we are speaking of sexual orientation and racial issues and how they are not entirely equivalent.
The color of your skin, is not unnatural. You are not considered a freak of nature, for your skin color......
Just saying.
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