Gay for a Day

[etcj]

Well I've done with this brainstorming activity with high school students before, so let's see if YW folks are gonna make it as fun...

The Brainstorming Question is:

If you were gay for only one day, what one activity would you do?

I'll tell you the reasoning before this activity after folks filled in some responses. For those who are not straight, you can recuse yourself, but you can also just pretend you're straight pretending to be gay. (That was a mouthful!)

Be as open and as honest as you like...if you don't like gay people, here might be your opportunity to shine. This is all meant to be a fun activity, so don't go loco or anything. :tongue:

[nonamerasian]

I can't think of anything.

[spice]

i would redecorate my apartment. it looks like shit. if i were gay, i'd probably have a better sense of design and stuff. oh, and i'd get a new wardrobe too. as a straight guy, i can't dress myself so i know i probably look like crap but don't know it yet since i lack the "queer eye". i also think it might be fun to go to one of those big parades the gays have. you know, get all dressed up and dance on top of a float. that looks like fun!

[John0101]

i would try to make some new friends, can't really think of anything more then that

[ChinaLama]

To be honest, if I were gay for a day, I wouldn't do anything. Homophobia is still too strong in society, among my family, among my friends. I'd just stay in the closet.

If it were socially acceptable to be gay for a day and I were gay for a day (I need to learn word economy :p), I'd get some ass.

[kitty]

if i were gay for a day, I would put myself in as many normal situations as I could and experience institutional homophobia for the first time. I have always thought the ally stuff was kinda insincere...

I'd like to know what homophobia really is all about...

[teaz0r]

i haven't got a clue.
probably like what
kittygirl say.

i'd probably go to a
gay bar too.

[AngryABCGirl]

Have an orgy.

[moJo]

i'd hit on one of my gay friends. he's cute and he's awesome. so i'd have to change my gender, too.

on a more serious note, i would do something similar to what kittygirl posted. since my mindset would be that of a gay person, i'd also probably notice a lot more homophobic comments than if i was my straight self.

[DragonKnight]

Clothes shopping. My wardrobe needs a major rehaul.

[kitty]

i love how the boys who've posted so far want to use their gay for a day power to be stylish...

being gay doens't necessarily mean you'll have good fashion sense. is this what the post Queer Eye world has come to?

lol

[deez nuts]

surround myself with rich fag hags and have them pay for my shopping spree

[etcj]

if i were gay for a day, I would put myself in as many normal situations as I could and experience institutional homophobia for the first time. I have always thought the ally stuff was kinda insincere...

I'd like to know what homophobia really is all about...
Wow, kittygirl wins the big prize!!!

Yeah, you got right on the mark...most people don't realize that certain stereotypes (flattering or not) have a profound effect upon acceptance of GLBT folks in the straight community. Whereas some things may be considered more acceptabled (or even chic) in the gay community, others may not.

As always, I see many responses about shopping and makeovers, which are perpetuated by stereotypes (ahemm...Fab 5!!). However, few people focus on things, such as sitting at the dinner table with family or getting married, because those are things often taken for granted by straight people. GLBT folks who feel ostracized by the larger community would then be stigmatized and indoctrinated into a culture that values shopping and makeovers over basic needs, such as acceptance or tolerance.

So, as kittygirl said, imagine how you feel is people's knee-jerk response about being gay is simply about orgies or shopping...sure it'll probably be a fun life, but doesn't it seem to get a bit dull after awhile? (Ahemm..that's a rhetorical question...I already know what the sex fiends and shopoholics are gonna say. :tongue: )

[deez nuts]

no.

my response to shopping wasn't perpetuated by the fab five stereotype/gay man dress better stereotype. my wardrobe is already worth a small fortune. and i'm better dressed than most men and some of the alleged "better dressed gay men" out there. i don't need a makeover.

it's more perpetuated by being a greedy label whore and the latent desire for a legion of sugar mommas.

[Chris]

I am quite amused by the response here. But I like kitty girl answer the most as well.

Some of the sterotypes are being prepetuated mostly as CL says by fear, or by TV. I think KG get the gist of it by what we have to go through.

[BeTheReds]

Well are we operating on the assumption that I would be aware that I was only going to be gay for that one day? I'd hate to run wild and be out about it, and try to hook up with hot guys if the next day I would revert to being straight and have to live with the consequences of my gay day.

[DragonKnight]

I am quite amused by the response here. But I like kitty girl answer the most as well.

Some of the sterotypes are being prepetuated mostly as CL says by fear, or by TV. I think KG get the gist of it by what we have to go through.
*hangs head in shame*

[Seamus]

Well are we operating on the assumption that I would be aware that I was only going to be gay for that one day? I'd hate to run wild and be out about it, and try to hook up with hot guys if the next day I would revert to being straight and have to live with the consequences of my gay day.

Heheh, that's pretty funny. I had a good time at The Cafe up in San Francisco with a guy friend and a bunch of girls last night. My first time at a gay bar, which I guess made me gay for a day, unless it only counts if I hooked up with somebody. Only a few guys approached us because we had our buffer zone. Anyone other straight people here ever been to a gay bar?

[Kuchana]

I would.....gauge people's reactions by telling them I'm coming out, starting with my family.

[missmeow]

Well I've done with this brainstorming activity with high school students before, so let's see if YW folks are gonna make it as fun...

The Brainstorming Question is:

If you were gay for only one day, what one activity would you do?

I'll tell you the reasoning before this activity after folks filled in some responses. For those who are not straight, you can recuse yourself, but you can also just pretend you're straight pretending to be gay. (That was a mouthful!)

Be as open and as honest as you like...if you don't like gay people, here might be your opportunity to shine. This is all meant to be a fun activity, so don't go loco or anything. :tongue:

I would live my life normally.

[Martino]

surround myself with rich fag hags and have them pay for my shopping spree

Who are these fag hags and where can I meet them? My hags just sit around criticising my wardrobe and choice of men. :O(

If I was a straight who was gay for a day, I guess I'd head for that sexual Disneyland called the sauna. Though I say that as a gay gay who prefers to go to the cinema and cry to a good film...

EDIT after reading more eplies here: My clothes are all black, for which I'm oft criticised about ("the black widow" as my last ex called me), and my flat is boringly white walls, bare wooden floorboards, and utilitarian Ikea furniture with one pot plant too many. Not trendy.

[kimpossible]

Drink iced tea.*


*If you don't know what I'm talking about, never mind. If you do, then :biggrin:

[Green_Circle]

[QUOTE=Seamus]Heheh, that's pretty funny. I had a good time at The Cafe up in San Francisco with a guy friend and a bunch of girls last night. My first time at a gay bar, which I guess made me gay for a day, unless it only counts if I hooked up with somebody. Only a few guys approached us because we had our buffer zone. Anyone other straight people here ever been to a gay bar?[/QUOTE

I've been to the one on Market St up in the Castro/San fran. If you really want to experience the gay club scene, next time try going without the girls! I just happened to be in the hood working out and decided to go for a bite because the food is half decent.

[Faithless]

I would live my life normally.
Bingo.

I could say do something GLBT activist like, as well.

[Seamus]

I've been to the one on Market St up in the Castro/San fran. If you really want to experience the gay club scene, next time try going without the girls!

Heheh, I'd love to see the looks on my friends' faces if I were to ever suggest going gay clubbing w/o women. They'd probably freak out, even though I'm always joking about how metrosexual two of them are. (I'm a wannabe metrosexual: if I were gay for a day the first thing I'd do is to go on a huge shopping spree to update my pretty shitty wardrobe. And I'd also get my eyebrows waxed (c.f. earlier post)).

Speaking as a straight guy, I think that most guys have a tendency do be a lot more homophobic when we're all in a group, but individually, I think we're a lot more relaxed and don't get our panties (no pun intended) all in a bunch about being around gay people.

[SunWuKong]

well, if i were to retain my sex drive, too, i'd probably end up having sex, or trying as hard as i could to have sex, especially since i only have one day to be interested in it, with another guy.

[bluetrianglescott]

That's a good question!

The serious answer? I'd pay close attention to how it made me feel being around a bunch of straight guys who are not explicitly homophobic but who make a lot of jokes about sexuality, and remember how it makes me feel. I guess that's pretty similar to what kittygirl said. I just wonder what it's like for a gay person to be around straight people who they're friends with but who make "lighthearted" jokes about gay sex.

The not serious answer? I'd go cruising for metal boys with Rob Halford of Judas Priest.

[Shogun Empress]

dress in drag to see how many people I could fool

[kitty]

you could do that if you were straight.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Um I don't think I'd really change anything. There really isn't anything that gay people can do that I feel I cannot do or should not do yet still want to do. Dunno if that makes sense, haha. Lotsa people wonder if I'm gay already anyway, cause a lotta my friends are female. I dun think it's the way I act or dress.