Split Thread [Ed] Personal experiences with gays

[Quad4_72]

Please send my regards to your wife who seems to have managed more with a casual comment than dozens of skeptics could do in 14 pages.

As I am an optimist, I read this post as a very manly attempt to sorta maybe kinda admit to tiny error in judgment. (My husband is very much the same way. That comment from him would be the equivalent of a full mea culpa complete with tears and rending of the garb.) It's always admirable when a board member can admit to a change of heart after a vigorous defense. Kudos.

A woman can be very convincing. Especially one that generally thinks exactly as I do, but it really threw me off when I posed the question and she basically echoed the sentiments of the thread.

 

[Pacal]

Ok so I am somewhat torn now. I have spoken to my wife about the issue, and she pretty much echoed the same sentiments that you guys have. But there is an issue. She said that there are two guys at her work who she had absolutely NO idea that they were gay until they came out to her. She said there was just no way of telling. Problem is, a couple of weeks ago I had seen these same two individuals on her facebook and immediately identified them as gay by their profile pictures. Basically, they posted on her wall, and I asked who they were. She said they were friends from work, and I said they are gay huh? She said, how did you know?!

To me, it was just obvious. They were portraying a demeanor that was very similar to those I had seen at the club on 80s night. So basically the issue is that might wife could not identify them as gay when it was so blatantly obvious. But she does have me leaning more towards what you guys are saying, and that maybe there are more non camp acting gays out there then I think.

You have no idea how amusing this load of crap is.

Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Dave_46]

He doesn't,that is the point. <snip>

Oh, I think I realised that. My question was rhetorical really.

My ability to spot homosexual men is crap. In my time of employment (I'm well over sixty now) I was aware of two that I worked with. (one was when I was a teenager, and he was camp, and of course it was illegal then). The other I did not know about until he "came out".

I am aware of three among my current friends/aquaintances.

I know that there must be/have been more, but I am not/was not aware of them. I, at least, am aware of my own ignorance in this respect.

Dave

 

[dafydd]

You are suggesting that I am either afraid of gays, dislike gays, have something against gays, etc. Please provide evidence for this suggestion.

I am saying that all gay men do not act like giggling sissies and that some of the masculine men that you have met in your life were gay or bi.

 

[dafydd]

Bolding mine. I never said all gay people are a certain way. I said from my personal experience, MOST gay people act more feminine. After speaking with my wife, perhaps maybe I should lower my number a little bit of the gay people who act feminine.

We're getting somewhere at last.

 

[Skeptic]

Quad, I often agree with you, but here you remind me a bit of Homer Simpson: "I am an American! I want my beer COLD, my Chilli HOT, and my homosexuals FLAMING!".

 

[Piscivore]

Quad, I often agree with you, but here you remind me a bit of Homer Simpson: "I am an American! I want my beer COLD, my Chilli HOT, and my homosexuals FLAMING!".

Hah, that's exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Quad4_72]

Quad, I often agree with you, but here you remind me a bit of Homer Simpson: "I am an American! I want my beer COLD, my Chilli HOT, and my homosexuals FLAMING!".

I definitely LOLed at this.

 

[Mobyseven]

But what about the other sample in which I know personally hundreds of men who act masculine and are straight, with not a single one of them being gay?

Taking that as true for the sake of argument (others have pointed out issues in your selection criteria), that might help you figure out how straight men act, but it won't tell you a thing about gay men.

 

[Belz...]

Well, in Quad's defense, I am generally a fairly hapless guy anyway.

And in Kardashian's defense, sensitivity for the scent of rotting flesh is not something I consider all too surprising. In fact, all scavengers depend on it.

Cavities are not rotting flesh.

 

[Belz...]

You are obviously uncomfortable with the idea of not knowing whether a person is gay or not.

I think that's an important portion of Quad's issue here.

 

[Belz...]

Please send my regards to your wife who seems to have managed more with a casual comment than dozens of skeptics could do in 14 pages.

It was probably either that or the sofa. We don't have that kind of power.

 

[Mobyseven]

There's an error in understanding the probabilities associated with 'Gaydar' that I've not seen discussed yet (though I may have missed it).

Say, for the purposes of illustration, that 10% of people are gay and 90% are straight (excluding bisexuals for simplicity).

Now, let's assume that camp behaviour is very common in gays: say 80% of gay men are camp. And let's also say that it's quite uncommon for a straight man to be camp; maybe 1% of them are.

In this situation, if you go around guessing that every camp person you meet is gay, you will be wrong ~11% of the time.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Taking that as true for the sake of argument (others have pointed out issues in your selection criteria), that might help you figure out how straight men act, but it won't tell you a thing about gay men.

It won't even tell you much about that. I have a couple of completely straight metrosexual friends. They sometimes act more feminine than your typical man (although they're also masculine in many respects) but they aren't even the slightest bit interested in men sexually.

 

[H'ethetheth]

Cavities are not rotting flesh.

That depends on how long you wait.

Also, I wasn't being entirely serious.

 

[arthwollipot]

Can you tell that Ian McKellen is gay ?

Can you tell that James Randi is gay?

 

[arthwollipot]

I think there's a million dollars waiting for you, then.

If he can tell gay from straight based only on a photo, that's definitely MDC-worthy!

 

[Belz...]

Can you tell that James Randi is gay?

No. In fact I learned that from this thread.

 

[Mr. Scott]

Re Ian McKellen. I've seen him in films and on TV many a time,and seen him interviewed a lot. I didn't know about his sexuality until he said that he was gay during a chat show last year. Does Quad really think that all gays ponce about like Edgar J. Hoover in drag?

Haha. Some of my gay friends switch on the camp to:

- Amuse each other.
- See if any straight-looking guys will proposition them.
- Mess with stuck-up straights.

Just for fun, here's a partial list of famous gay or bi people who aren't campy faggy fems:

(I won't include Tom Cruise he's too litigious)

- James Randi
- Christopher Hitchens
- Anderson Cooper
- James Dean
- Errol Flynn
- Graham Chapman
- Richard Chamberlain
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Montgomery Clift
- George Gershwin
- Sir John Gielgud
- Richard H. Hatch
- J. Edgar Hoover
- Rock Hudson
- Charles Laughton
- Tyrone Power
- Senator Larry Craig
- Senator Barney Frank

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

Haha. Some of my gay friends switch on the camp to:

- Amuse each other.
- See if any straight-looking guys will proposition them.
- Mess with stuck-up straights.

Just for fun, here's a partial list of famous gay or bi people who aren't campy faggy fems:

(I won't include Tom Cruise he's too litigious)

- James Randi
- Christopher Hitchens
- Anderson Cooper
- James Dean
- Errol Flynn
- Graham Chapman
- Richard Chamberlain
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Montgomery Clift
- George Gershwin
- Sir John Gielgud
- Richard H. Hatch
- J. Edgar Hoover
- Rock Hudson
- Charles Laughton
- Tyrone Power
- Senator Larry Craig
- Senator Barney Frank

WHAT??? George Gershwin was gay??