Gay pride parade

[PipenSnus]

...Most gays are pretty normal, at least the ones I know personally. They are not all liberal activists or flamboyant, they are literally just like me. My uncle is gay and is the president of a union, yet he is very normal, not flamboyant, pretty conservative, and is probably the funniest guy I know. In other words, he is gay AND leading a union, yet he doesn't fit the stereotype of an Obama loving drug addict pedophile that I hear so often. It's because the silent majority is usually not the ones screaming the loudest.

Very good point. The most outspoken or extreme members of any group probably don't represent the majority. Personally, I find public sex to be tacky, and I'd rather not see it, regardless of whether it's homosexual or heterosexual. But seeing a same-sex couple kissing or holding hands in public puts a big smile on my face. They're just doing what any couple should be able to do in public. And there are still too many places where gay couples are afraid of public displays of affection, and with good reason -- nobody wants to be the target of a violent attack. Hate crimes are still very much a part of our reality, unfortunately.

[tom502]

Hari Bol!

Tom, my sister is a krishna.

Cool. How long? And is she living at a temple?

Many times, I ponder if I hadn't left it. It wasn't bad, but really localized management BS that irked me into leaving. But I could have gone to any other temple, which would be different, with different people.

[Frosted]

I was in the Brit Army from 1991-2003 and it was illegal to be gay. If you were found to be gay you were court martialled and sent to prison.

I think it was around the year 2000 when this ceased and we saw a few gay people come out and some were a total surprise. Surprisingly yet - nobody even batted an eyelid as those people were good at their jobs and didn't flaunt the fact that they were gay.

Being gay is definately acceptable but I think the majority of people would prefer that it wasn't shouted from the rooftops.

[snusgetter]

Almost reads like a romance novel...

but fits right in with some o' the stuff I've read in this thread...

The last person out of the closet? The bisexual male - CNN.com

"(CNN) -- Robert Winn met his wife, Christine, in college. He was a fraternity boy. She was a sorority girl. Early in their relationship, he made a confession, a thorny secret he camouflaged from his closest family and friends.

The truth sputtered out awkwardly.

Sensing his nervousness, she speculated he would announce he was sick -- or perhaps dying?

He told her he was bisexual."

...
More than 50 percent of Americans accept the idea of a gay or lesbian relationship, signaling growing support for same-sex couples, according to a Gallup poll in May. The poll, however, doesn't address the issue of bisexuality, often defined as having a romantic attraction to both men and women. It's a sexual orientation some advocacy groups and researchers say remains challenging because neither the gay community nor the straight population advocates for men and women who are attracted to both sexes.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/28...e.last.closet/

Some of the comments at the end of the article could fit right in here.

Does SF have a Bisexual Parade?
Wonder what kind of report you might have on that, sgreger1!!

[CoderGuy]

Most gays are pretty normal, at least the ones I know personally. They are not all liberal activists or flamboyant, they are literally just like me. My uncle is gay and is the president of a union, yet he is very normal, not flamboyant, pretty conservative, and is probably the funniest guy I know. In other words, he is gay AND leading a union, yet he doesn't fit the stereotype of an Obama loving drug addict pedophile that I hear so often. It's because the silent majority is usually not the ones screaming the loudest. Its hard to imagine it when your surrounded by a group of 1 million gays around you being freaks, but most gays aren't freaks, the people who attend this festival are in their 20's so no surprises there. Remember the free love movement in the 60's? Just like that but with more cock in your face.

Wow what a great post sgreger1! You're right though. Every group has their extremists, the ones that are loud and in your face, i.e. environmental extremists, anti-gay groups, various religious groups, animal rights activists, anti-tobacco groups, parents groups, etc. It doesn't mean everyone in those groups are bad, just the vocal minority.

You can take ANY group of people, ANY, and see the stereotype doesn't really fit. For instance, blondes, Polish people, Italians, basically each racial group of people. Sure, they have people that DO fit the stereotypes, but they are by far not the norm (well maybe not blondes) but most groups are just normal people trying to survive, with some affliction that is completely out of their control that haunts them through their lives (like being from Jersey). If everyone would just learn to accept people and get to know them before making judgement, they would find there are plenty of a**holes out there to hate that cross the boundaries of any particular stereotype. They would still get their daily dose of hatred in, but not needlessly alienate a who groups of people.

[WickedKitchen]

Wow, I missed a lot with this thread. i bought something for my guitar yesterday and i has consumed me.

Danielan...you make me laugh. That stuff about walking outside to see female PDA's is fantastic!

I think one of the biggest problems is that we are so afraid of talking about sex. As a society it's not openly discussed. Maybe the world would be a better place if we did. Sex is so good for you. Even talking about it changes the workings of your body subtly. I've even gotten very aroused talking about sex with gay men. I don't have a strong desire to indulge but I've thought about it several times. I mean, after all...it's just sex at that point. I guess it's better for one to be homosexual than non-sexual.

I haven't heard one good argument why two people can't be married. Period. At least I haven't heard any that aren't religion based. Then again, I think that the "marriage" is just a bit silly. My actions in my relationship with my wife and family weigh more than my words. If it were solely my decision I don't think I would have gotten married. It still wouldn't change the way I am today unless my wife chose not to stay with me which probably would have happened...long story...if someone starts a thread about marrying into a family let me know. I could write a book.

Tim, there was a point in my childhood when I first learned of hermaphrodites and how there is one born for ever 20k or so. I thought I was chosen to be a boy and that's where the seam came from. My parents would never talk about sex so I thought this for a year or two. Funny.

[danielan]

I was in the Brit Army from 1991-2003 and it was illegal to be gay. If you were found to be gay you were court martialled and sent to prison.

Something that IMO, puts a lot of these issues into perspective is the life and death of Alan Turing. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ki/Alan_Turing

Alan Turing was a genius. One of those 1 in a million type geniuses that we never have enough of. Those that have a critical and enduring impact on us as a civilization.

He did as much as anyone to ensure that WWII ended in a non-fascist future. He should have lived a happy life. He should have been a national treasure.

Instead he was persecuted, chemically castrated, and died of an apparent suicide in 1954. Because he was gay and this was a crime.

His legacy lives on, particularly in computer science, where his name is remembered in the Turning test, the Turing Prize, languages being "Turing Complete", the Turing machine, etc.

In September of 2009, the British government apologized for their treatment of him. I normally think these sort of posthumous things are a bit pointless. This one seemed necessary and appropriate.

[truthwolf1]

^^
This.

I just love to read the ridiculous, irrational and ludicrous arguments of rabid straight bigots. They make fools of themselves far better than I could ever do.

And thanks very much to all you supportive straight folk out there. I finally feel welcome here.

Yes, all that and more like, "Klanmaster" from my gay friends and lesbian family member when these topics come up. I dont care if you are gay and like I said earlier you will get your marriage rights as soon as you hit a few more percent points of the split society. On this issue I am conservative now but once it is over I will probably live like nothing happened.It will be better for my wedding/photo business anyways. Homosexuals on average I have read make very good livings compared to hetero's.

My boys stance comes from reading the "far right" research. Of course they have a agenda just as the gay movement does to surpress anything that might harm it. That's how the world works as the more I learn.
Now you can dismiss any research that say's "Christian" or "Family" in it but that still does not mean there is absolutely no basis or any validity in the research. As a conspiracy theorist I absorb huge amounts of good/bad/crap info and try to find the middle. Sometimes I feel I am dead right and other times maybe way off.
This forum, my views and rants are all mostly for entertainment and possibly a learning experience. No doubt I will offend, surprise and stir crap. I wish I had more time to do this seriously but I do my damage when I can in the minimal breaks in the day.
I am not trying to gay bash but do have concerns about certain statistics/parts of the lifestyle and how that will affect
adopted kids, foster kids and teens in general. I will need to fully research more. Maybe that is utterly shocking to some but it is a big concern to the Christian Right, although they really need to clean up their house first and wingnut Klanmasters like me who like to find anything to expose.

Here is some more info for you entertainment. Apologies to any if this offends but that's the complete opposite train of thought.

Child Molestation and the Homosexual movement
http://www.theroadtoemmaus.org/RdLb/...-BaldwinS.html

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=13722

Priest defends pope, papal preacher
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/100403

[Roo]

For Christ's sake, this is definition homophobia you are spewing. What are you so afraid of? And what IS with all the Christian extremism in your links? It's certainly not doing much to support your point of view. And those "studies" in the renewamerica link are so flawed. I'm not going to repost them so as not to plaster your bigotry all over this board, but there is one big thing you and whoever wrote that crap are missing: Just because a man is aroused by little boys does not mean he is a homosexual. The stats you point to there reinforce my point. It says 25-40% of men who like children prefer boys, and thus the problem is homosexuality among pedophiles. What about the other 60-75% of pedophiles who prefer girls? What do you call them, heterosexuals?? They are all called pedophiles, truthwolf. They don't like adults like normal people -- straight, gay, or bi.

Can you put just a little thought into helping make everyone feel welcome on this forum? What you're saying is no different than singling out a particular race and posting absurdly biased "studies" and articles about how that race is inferior and should be shunned. No wonder we lack several degrees of diversity on this forum with shit like that on here. Maybe you don't care. Maybe this is what you meant by "granola enforcement".

[Curtisp]

There are some intellectually enlightened people in this forum. Nice to see. Some; not so much.

[bipolarbear1968]

Lets not have a falling out. Truthwolf has just as much right for an opinion as anyone else.

Give it a rest.

[Bigblue1]

[Roo]

Lets not have a falling out. Truthwolf has just as much right for an opinion as anyone else.

Give it a rest.

Good idea. Lol BigBlue1

[sgreger1]

He's gathering a posse. First it was just 1 and now it's 4? Expect violence to come. Those bandanas mean they are racist homophobes.

[ladysnus]

All I have to say IS LOVE. "Some of you right wingers" should try putting more L O V E in your hearts.
This is 2010, stop the hating

For the record- i am neither right nor left