The reason why certain people might consider such personalities to be socially damaging towards how homosexuality is perceived in our society is because they *are* what the majority sees. Not every person is learned enough to know there are sane gays and lesbians in this world because it’s downplayed by the ones who are in fact sane. All the crazies get the airplay and because of it most people consider gay to be effeminate.

So I don’t consider your friend to be ignorant; even though I do consider the whole ordeal to be slightly funny; because there is *no* movement, or rather shouldn’t be. Every man for himself; gay or straight. But then, we are not in a stage to be considered majority since we are in fact a minority, and until it becomes a lot more common, we have nothing else but to be shamefully tagged in the groups Perez and Chris fall in.

The Gay Movement could use a lot more Perez Hiltons willing to call a spade and spade, and a lot less of these simpering, thumb up their hoo-hoo types who’d rather die than speak up for gay equality.

Go Perez!!!

We should not all have to act the same in order to be treated equally. In the bargaining for equal rights, our diversity is not on the table. The gay population without diversity is hardly gay.

As for Perez Hilton, I have also never been a fan of his and agree that this entire Miss USA thing went over the edge and into hurting our cause when he began spewing ignorance and swearing in his videos.

I am, quite frankly, embarrassed to be lumped into ANY category in which both Perez and Chris are members.

Quite frankly, heterosexuals are just as likely to have a high libido, walk around half-naked, flaunt their sexuality, walk half-naked at Mardi Gras, and they have their very own P Hilton too.

Why do you expect the gay population to conform to your stereotype of what a gay should be?

I think a much better approach is live and let live. The human race is a very diverse group of individuals. I think all men are created equal should actually mean that all men are created equal.

“It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.” Harvey Milk

Before the rant begins, think about the origins of the strategy and consider what you have become…

The only thing all gay people have in common is being gay. There is no right or preferred way to talk, act, dress, or interact with our fellow human beings, regardless of sexual orientation. But I can’t help but feel as though a certain portion of the gay community would prefer to portray themselves as the negative stereotype instead of an average citizen. This doesn’t mean acting “heterosexual.” (What does that even mean, by the way?) It means not acting like a libido-driven clown. It means not parading your half-naked person down the parade route at PrideFest. It means not going out of your way to throw your orientation in other people’s faces at every given opportunity. It means not allowing yourself to be victimized for having any given orientation. It means being a person and not just being one of “the gay.”

There is, I suppose, some down-side to relinquishing the stereotype. I imagine not being identified as gay at a first glance really is detrimental to some peoples’ well-being. Or at least perception of themselves. Perhaps if the gay community were less inclined to segregate itself from the body of mainstream society, we wouldn’t be facing these image issues all the time. And yes, as much as heterosexuals do to demonize the “gay lifestyle,” gay people don’t help themselves all that much by choosing to marginalize themselves.