Why does the gay community insist on defining itself by its sexuality?

Question

Okay, Ive noticed that whenever some prominent figure announces that they are gay or if people speculate about someones sexuality, its becomes a big issue. I thought that the point was to make sexual orientation a non-issue, but it has become "the" issue that gay Americans want to know about. And its not like the media makes it any better. People are being hounded about. Also whenever a gay entertainer, politian, or musician is mentioned in the news about some issue they always have to include the persons sexuality even if the topic of the news has nothing to do with sexuality.

Its ridiculous in my eyes. Can someone please explain this to me?

Answer 1

How can we be accepted as normal if the only perception people have of the LGBT community is The Village People and the butch lesbian stereotype? We need people to come out and make an issue of it so that people can see that the community is just like the rest of the world. The irony is that we have to make a big deal out of it now so that it isn't an issue in the future.

Answer 2

Actually, its not entirely the outside media defining the gay community by sexuality (long rant here)...

Ever read Plato's "Symposium"? Well, every artist, writer, and philosopher in the 19th century did... Oscar Wilde being the best example. Given in the Victorian era it was a bit more subtle... it was more of an artistic philosophy, as many artists of the era considered it a very "pure" love (for the reason that there was an exchange of thought, and that procreation wasn't physically possible, so the love had to be something both desired, not that they were obligated to... also an era of lots of status-marriages, to put that in context).

Around the turn of the century, when Wilde and the lot became patron saints, it started becoming a badge of honor. Hence the freedom of the Jazz (and Cabaret) age. Still for its artistic merits (the artists they admired were, mostly, gay... so gay equated to artistic and anti-establishment, as there were many laws condemning homosexuality). By embracing such things (along with every other anti-bigotry badge of honor they could get), society as a whole started identifying such things solely as "gay" (likewise, those 19th Century idols also dubbed Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, etc... as the gay icons they now are, as well as putting the foppery of the 18th century into context).

This was diminished in the mainstream for awhile as anti-gay sentiments rose along with the rise of the middle-class (and the new "family" ideal of the industrial age... a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a nice home in the suburbs, etc...). Stayed like that for awhile... as homosexuals found more of a voice in mainstream society (ie: the film industry in the 20s and early 30s), the bigoted sects of mainstream society started becoming more up front and open about their hatred of "the gay community" and started forming the stereotypes and attitude that currently plagues the perception of the "gay community". Anyway, hatred ruled, gays were brushed under the rug from, oh, about the mid 30s (circa the Hayes Code in... 1933? which banned any sex, drugs, and anything having to do with homosexuals in film, as those had all become staples in the 20s thru early 30s) to the mid 60s. Then enter the growing number of youth activists and the explosion in the late 60s/early 70s, when "gay rights" originated... defining themselves by their sexuality as a revolt against the repression of the previous 30 or so years (ie: "We're here, we're queer...").

And this set the stage for the current conflict. So, the gay community defined themselves because they HAD to in order to break free of repression... the only problem is it stuck, and the media never let go of it. So now, while the "gay community" is trying to be recognized as PEOPLE who *happen* to be gay, the media and mainstream culture is still stuck on the 70s "we're here, we're queer" slogan.... and thus keep defining the community solely by sexuality.

Answer 3

First of all, the reason there is a gay community is because gay people are discriminated against. But, don't think of this section as LGBT, think of it as a dating and social discussion for LGBT people.

Secondly, the media is always poking at stupid ideas such as sexuality. They posted an entire segment about Barack Obama's smoking habit and Hilary Clinton's pant suits! Its not just sexuality! People need to look at the whole picture before they start pointing fingers at the gay community for starting turmoil. Its not us!

Answer 4

It is not gay people who are defining themselves, it is other people who try to define gay people.

Sexual orientation would be a non-issue, but those who dislike gay people continue to rant and rave about what they perceive as imperfections of gay people without taking the time or the energy to actually know what gay people are like or understand the difficulties and discrimination that gay people face everyday.

Answer 5

I agree, it is incredibly ridiculous.

It's amusing to note that in trinitybombshells comment, her link to a 'public display' was a picture taken is a private bedroom. The fact that she got the picture off the internet meant that she must have been looking for it in the first place... What a joke.

Haven't we all moved past that stage? Yes men make out with men, women with women, and also men and women. Does it really matter if they're both consenting adults?

Answer 6

well, people are scared of what the don't know about, you get some stiff shirt that thinks they are too good when in reality , they want to do the same or have thought about it .its like when someone dresses different to express thereselves people think they are weird or need to talk to someone , when the fact is they are just being themselves.and as for newspaper they are just looking for a good story and what a better way to them than to put somone down or better make a mountiain out of a molehill

Answer 7

For the same reason that a good chunk of the people, like to define themselves by their religion!

Answer 8

sometimes the issues it taken out of control. but with politians I feel safer when one has experienced what I've experienced and is connected to who I am and to my views

Answer 9

It is NOT the gay community that insists on defining itself by sexuality, it is everyone who is against the gay community who insists on defining them by their sexuality.

EDIT: dammit to the answerer above me, you posted it first.

Answer 10

i don't have an answer for it either, but thank you SOOO MUCH for asking!!! It drives me crazy, too