U.S. track star Trey Cunningham comes out as gay

[samhexum]

6 minutes ago, cany10011 said:

I hope that someday coming out shIt should be easily accepted as declaring yourself a vegetarian

Or some other kind of annoying freak 

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, soloyo215 said:

Those are actual studies conducted, not the opinion of people based on their experience (which can be as valid).

To be clear: I was referring to domestic perspectives on homosexuality, since the fellow is American.

Internationally you're definitely looking at a huge variety of viewpoints and laws.

[+ sync]

3 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

To be clear: I was referring to domestic perspectives on homosexuality, since the fellow is American.

Internationally you're definitely looking at a huge variety of viewpoints and laws.

Just a few:

Poll shows US public support for LGBTQ+ protections falling ..

Teaching Tolerance Amid Contentious Turbulence

Supreme Court rules businesses can refuse service to ...

[pubic_assistance]

40 minutes ago, sync said:

Poll shows US public support for LGBTQ+ protections falling ..

This one has been discussed here previously.

Adding the 'Q' has definitely impacted the LGBT community negatively.

[caramelsub]

48 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

This one has been discussed here previously.

Adding the 'Q' has definitely impacted the LGBT community negatively.

I think the Q is appropriate. It can either stand for queer or questioning. So it covers people who may be closeted, or questioning their sexuality, or questioning whether to come out or not. At least that’s the way I see it.

Edited July 13 by caramelsub

[soloyo215]

19 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

To be clear: I was referring to domestic perspectives on homosexuality, since the fellow is American.

Internationally you're definitely looking at a huge variety of viewpoints and laws.

The Pew Research is conducted in USA. Additionally, most professional athletes compete internationally, so that matters in this context.

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, soloyo215 said:

The Pew Research is conducted in USA. Additionally, most professional athletes compete internationally, so that matters in this context.

OK. A reasonable response.

I accept that is true.

But again...MY comment was referring to the multiple article of athletes coming out who reside in the US. Every article ends with the statement that his / (her) family, friends and teammates were supportive. I have yet to read an article where an athlete came out (in the USA) and they were disowned by their parents and stoned-to-death by their local community.

[soloyo215]

37 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

OK. A reasonable response.

I accept that is true.

But again...MY comment was referring to the multiple article of athletes coming out who reside in the US. Every article ends with the statement that his / (her) family, friends and teammates were supportive. I have yet to read an article where an athlete came out (in the USA) and they were disowned by their parents and stoned-to-death by their local community.

That's the PR part of the announcement. My best guess is that we will never hear that the family isn't supportive. That part speaks to the general public, and helps maintain a good image, which can impat the athlete's career, endorsements and the business aspect of being an athlete.

So yes, we hear the same thing time and time again, but the reality is that the public needs to get educated and also be reminded. We're talking about a culture that doesn't promote a lot of critical thinking, and some people who seem to have the attention span of a gold fish.

I do know an American professional athlete who came out and his family was not supportive, but they "were very understanding, even celebrated it" in front of the media. The reason for that is money and the athlete's career, as well as the career of the people aroud him who depended in him. That might be why  we don't hear much about rejection; there's money at stake, and probably the athlete might be supporting the entire family.

It's the same thing when I was a young professional, coming from poverty. My family din't reject me, especially when I was subsidizing some of their children and fixing their homes. But I heard many times their true opinions of gay men when they were referring to others, and when I overheard them talking to other people about it.

Extreme and public rejection doesn't seem to happen a lot (especially stoning), but it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, it's just not a great thing to advertise, and it's not in the best intertest of the industry.

[pubic_assistance]

3 minutes ago, soloyo215 said:

Extreme and public rejection doesn't seem to happen a lot (especially stoning), but it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, it's just not a great thing to advertise, and it's not in the best intertest of the industry.

Thanks. An insightful and realistic response.

[+ José Soplanucas]

2 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

MY comment was referring to the multiple article of athletes

May I ask how many athletes have come out? And then compare it to other human activities.

[Danny-Darko]

19 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

This one has been discussed here previously.

Adding the 'Q' has definitely impacted the LGBT community negatively.

And not only the Q too! 

[pubic_assistance]

1 minute ago, Danny-Darko said:

And not only the Q too! 

I agree.

Trans issues are completely separate and only serve to drag down the growth of gay (+bi) rights and public perceptions.

[Rudynate]

On 7/10/2024 at 2:17 PM, pubic_assistance said:

But yeah...there are surely pockets of bigotry left in the South.

Tell me about it. A few years ago my husband and I stopped in a convenience store along the freeway in central Mississippi. For a brief moment we forgot we weren't in California and were standing fairly close - but no PDA's - I have never seen such hostile glares.

[pubic_assistance]

15 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

Tell me about it. A few years ago my husband and I stopped in a convenience store along the freeway in central Mississippi. For a brief moment we forgot we weren't in California and were standing fairly close - but no PDA's - I have never seen such hostile glares.

I guess it's tough to travel outside your usual comfort zones when you're obviously gay. I grew up in the middle of some fairly red-neck territory..so I knew better than to be obvious about being a dick-sucker. These days there are multiple gay couples running bed and breakfasts and hair salons there and the rednecks just look the other way. Times have changed in much of the country. So your experience must have been some old-timer deep south bigots.

 

[Rudynate]

19 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

I guess it's tough to travel outside your usual comfort zones when you're obviously gay. I grew up in the middle of some fairly red-neck territory..so I knew better than to be obvious about being a dick-sucker. These days there are multiple gay couples running bed and breakfasts and hair salons there and the rednecks just look the other way. Times have changed in much of the country. So your experience must have been some old-timer deep south bigots.

 

We're talking deep, rural south.  I used to visit there often because my mother used to live in Starkville MS.  But even in a place like that, interesting things can happen.  One morning I was out and around there, and I happened on a nice men's clothing store.  I went in and they had a nice inventory and the guy who served me was a young blond hunk with blue eyes and very charming in a southern-man kind of way.  He started showing me clothes and I started trying them on and it was so much fun that I dropped $500.00.  Then later in the same trip, I was out walking and I happened to meet the guy who owned the clothing store.  He was an eccentric middle-aged guy peculiarly-dressed in a cloak and a deerstalker hat, smoking a pipe, and probably gay.  He had grown up in Starkville, gone to college in Boulder, lived in California and decided to go back to Starkville.  We had a long chat and I thoroughly liked him.

[pubic_assistance]

21 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

But even in a place like that, interesting things can happen.

Where I grew up, things were very conservative and surrounded by rednecks. I would have never hit on a guy for fear of a good beating (or the occasional death). 30+ years have passed and there are many young gay couples who lead perfectly happy/ open lives and are active.members of the community. 

Things don't change overnight and not even in a generation, but they have changed. Just takes more time for some places to catch up. Keeping in mind the majority of States had already legalized gay marriage before it was made a National.Law.

[BonVivant]

On 7/10/2024 at 11:05 AM, dutchal said:

Lord he's gorgeous.

He sho is purty! 😋