Gay Myths (seeking help from my queer brothers and sisters)

[foreigncorrespondent]

I ran across an article (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16648) on AlterNet today. While it is a great article, I think it could have been a lot better. So I want to try my hand at writing about these gay myths.

So I am asking all of you queers to come forth and start coming up with all the gay myths so we can get a really good list going.

Once I finish the article I will post it on DU with thank you to the queer DUers.

FC

List I got so far:

We all eat shit
Incest runs high
We want special rights
Child abuse makes us queer
We're all perverts

[roughsatori]

1. Here's a link to 10 good ones

http://www.sexuality.org/l/incoming/homomyth.html

Do a Google of "Myths about homosexuality" you will find some good stuff. Also you will see how the bigots spin it to their side so that when one does a search you will find out how evil we are. The hate sites must be really nice for parents trying to learn about homosexuality to understand their kids.

[foreigncorrespondent]

2. I know what you mean.

Last yar my girlfriend was putting together a queer search engine (http://www.goqueer.com) and I was helping her with some of the research for the sites she was adding.

Anyway, when she was building the religious right section and the repuke section of that site, it opened both our eyes. They really have no idea what so ever, and they are spreading their hate like it is God's word.

Thank you for the link. I am checking it out right now. :)

[roughsatori]

4. You might like this: causes of homosexuality

I used to teach a class on human sexuality and used these "causes" to start the discussion. My scanner is broken so I can't send you my handout. But I did a search and this links to something similar. All of the stated things have actually been posited as causes of homosexuality. It is fun.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/sigs/life/gay/counsel/sure

[Booberdawg]

13. Oh good grief!

I thought the reasons in your link would be serious! LOL! (Well, apparently they were offered as serious by someone at some point.:eyes:)

suspected causes of homosexuality:

Masturbation
Smoking Marijuana
Vasectomy

And my favorite : Loud Disco Music!!! ROTFLOL!

[efhmc]

31. Some abused women do become Lesbians.

Worked with children of sexual abuse and many of the women who were raped and abused by their fathers became Lesbians because they felt they could never form a trusting relationship with men. Since one is gay from birth, they were probably "made" gay. The important thing is that they were able to find loving and happy relationships with anyone. Those heterosexual males are the ones that should be castrated.

[short bus president]

3. Hey now,

let's have no pervert bashing here!

;-)

[KinkyDem]

12. no pervert bashing

unless it's Safe, Sane and Consensual.

[Rowdyboy]

5. My God, just start with the basics...

Being homosexual is a choice/preference (yeah, right. When did you choose to be straight)
All gays are promiscuous sluts (15 years of monogamous bliss here)
Gays want to "recruit" children into the gay lifestyle (hate rug munchers personally. I want a man, not a boy)
Paedophiles are gay men abusing male children (tell that to the 75% of sexually abused children who are female.

and my personal pet peeve:

Gay male sex=anal sex. This is not true. Bullshit. Makes me angry to hear that trash.

Want any more input? PM me...

[catpower2000]

21. "Gay male sex=anal sex"...

I'm ashamed to admit I thought this was true! I mean, I know there's oral, but if you're not having anal, is oral the sum total of penetrative intercourse between two men? There's no other way to do it, is there? God, I'm retarded. Sorry for the stupid questions, I just didn't know! I thought the vast majority of gay men had anal sex with their partners. My uncle and all my gay male friends have anal with their boyfriends/partners. Do I just have a skewed sample?

Cat

[jono]

34. To each their own

I used to get very turned off by the thought of butt sex, but then once I tried it I happily added it to my sexual repertoire. But I know lots of others who would not. I think it's safe to say that there are many gay men who enjoy it, and still many others who do not. It was just the "vast majority" part of your post that got me. Even if it is a vast majority, it's not one of those things you can really prove easily (without being a robo-slut :D).

[noiretextatique]

6. that we can "change"

i don't know if anyone mentioned this, but it's one that is particularly annoying.

[ronnykmarshall]

7. Convert

The "all gay men want to 'convert' straight guys" line of shit.

[maxanne]

8. those straight guys

are just afraid some guy is going to pursue them with the same obnoxious intensity with which they have pursued uninterested women.

[ForrestGump]

15. Oh, SURE......NOW you act all innocent....

:D

I just know that Hypno-Judy Garland's lurking out there somewhere.

[ronnykmarshall]

17. You mean THIS ONE????!!!!!!

[Plaid Adder]

9. Read the manual!

Wrote this in 1996, but sadly much of it is still current:

http://www.io.com/~wwwomen/queer/etiquette/intro.html

The Straight Person's Guide to Gay Etiquette

In the opening sections there are a lot of lists about things people believe about gay people that are totally wack. My favorite is the myth that all gay people lust after all straight people.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[KinkyDem]

10. Yeah, this one too

That's right bring 'em all out. Why the hush about sex.

[Aristus]

11. I read somewhere that the percentage of child-molesters who are gay

is something like 2%. While the gay population itself is roughly 12-15% of the general population. So what that means to me is that a gay person is much LESS likely to be a child-molester than a straight person. (I wanted to put quotes around the 'straight' because I think we can all agree that a child molester is pretty twisted.)

I'm not gay, but the hatred for gays in this country infuriates me.

[donco6]

14. We're all either "top" or "bottom."

Husband or wife
Take care of the house or work in the yard
Ozzie or Harriet

It's all baloney.

[noiretextatique]

27. you don't "look" gay?!?!?!

the myth that all gay men and lesbians look a certain way.

[REP]

16. Some Others

I'm not gay, but here's some I know aren't true, but are sneaky because they're not blatently hateful:

Men are 'turned' gay by overbearing mothers
Women 'turn' gay due to abusive relationships with men

And a blatantly hateful one:

Lesbians hate men

[noiretextatique]

26. whysomeofmybestfriendsare...

men LOL! i don't care for assholes of any gender though :D

[mlawson]

18. The one that we all cross-dress!!

That one pisses me off the most! Several times, when I came out to straight friends, they asked me what type of women's clothing I was most interested in. This was not done in a derogatory manner, either -- they were just trying to talk to me about things they assumed I would be interested in. This myth is so pervasive, that MANY hetero people believe it.

:argh:

[ronnykmarshall]

19. We don't????

:silly:

Of course there's that old saying "which one's 'the girl'?" bullshit.

[mlawson]

22. The myth is, that we ALL do.

I have always felt, that if I wanted to date someone who dressed and acted like a woman, I would go out an find a REAL one (it would be a helluva lot easier!). But I don't want to; that is the entire point of being homosexual: SAME sex.

Is it not true that some heterosexual men cross dress??? I don't think it's actually about sexual orientation.

[TrogL]

20. Homosexuality is caused by

this is borrowed pretty much intact from various rabid religious right websites

• weak fathers
  
• lack of ball sports (no I'm not making this up)
  
• overbearing mothers
  
• too many female relatives
  
• no girl next door to lust after (I had one)
  
• feminine bathrooms
  

[mlawson]

24. Isn't much of that borrowed from Freud??

And he also said that (paraphrasing), "homosexuality is no advantage to a person, but it is no hindrance, either...".

[ronnykmarshall]

25. Damn that pink tile!!

[TheBigGuy]

23. The Agenda!...that "Gay Agenda"....that we are all following....

....sort of a "protocols of the elders of Zion" for US queers.

[noiretextatique]

28. it's a "phase"

mine has lasted 25 years :eyes:

[kayell]

29. The ever popular "lesbians just haven't met the right man yet"

of course the guy who holds this opinion is also very sure that HE is the right man. :eyes:

[ronnykmarshall]

30. Love that line!

Tell the next one that you're looking for the right man ....... WITH A VAGINA!

[xchrom]

32. recruiting children

is at the top of my list.
the hysteria over gay teachers and the subjects they might teach.
the one though that gay males are hyper-sexed, well hung and can dance all night is really true.

[jono]

33. We shove gerbils up our asses for kicks

I don't know why so many people seem to believe this, but I've seen references to it in all kinds of places.

There's lots of other good ones up the thread.

[jumptheshadow]

35. Lesbians don't have heterosexual friends

We just keep getting these square oversized envelopes with calligraphic addresses that shout "wedding." If we had saved all the money we've spent on gifts, parties, clothes and transportation for the weddings we've gone to in the last few years we would have booked tickets on one of those upscale cruises. The parties are mostly fun, although my partner always insists on "dirty dancing" with the bride. The groom's family -- well, they are treated to a mind-expanding experience.