1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

How did you learn about 'gay?'

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by NDark, Aug 20, 2014.

  1. wdtgg

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Messages:
    83
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Spain
    Out Status:
    A few people
    I guess some point when I was around 9 years old, there was a tv show which among other characters showed 3 gay guys that lived together, before that I kinda didn't "knew" that guys could like guys and girls could like girls, but I already had feelings for both.
     
  2. black-cat

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2014
    Messages:
    554
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Liverpool, UK.
    I was taught about gays when I was about 3, in the same conversation about straight relationships I was told about gay ones..... "When you grow up sometimes you fall in love with a girl and sometimes you fall in love with a boy".
     
  3. horrors

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2013
    Messages:
    20
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    All but family
    Growing up in a religious household, I was taught from a young age it wasn't an acceptable thing to be, but I don't recall having a clear grasp on what it meant until maybe 10 or 11.
     
  4. HeatherFields

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2014
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Southern Finland
    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    I never thought that women should only be with mrn and men only with women. When I was a kid, and played with my friends, we started a fight. I wanted to be a mom, and so did my best friend. I just said "let's both be moms, together! This kid has two moms!" and after a moment of looking at me like I was out of my mind, she agreed. Later we discovered the terms "gay" "lesbian" and "bisexual" and it was no big deal. We were still playing the two mom family, but that broke into neighbours because she didn't want to be different ....... Nowadays she is homophobic. Awesome :dry:
     
  5. jahow95

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2014
    Messages:
    329
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    London, England
    Well to be honest I assume I knew about it around age 10-11, but I never really thought that not being attracted to women was a real thing for people until I started getting confused around age 17.
     
  6. ChickenLady

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2014
    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Somewhere in BC, Canada
    Gender:
    Female
    Same here.
     
  7. Im Just Me

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2013
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    I learned in I think 6th (maybe 7th?) grade from a boy who identified as gay. I remember a lot of girls liked him and I asked him once why he didn't date any of them and he was like "I'm gay." and I was really confused and he laughed (not in a mean way, but kinda a shocked "how to explain this?" way) and then goes "I like penis" and cracks up. Still a bit confused he became a bit more serious and goes "I don't want to date girls, I want to date guys. That's who I'm attracted to." I remember thinking, "Wait, you can do that? That's a thing??" and the thought that I felt that way towards girls crossed my mind shortly after when thinking about it, but i pushed it away and decided i would have known before this lol
     
  8. Yossarian

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2013
    Messages:
    1,814
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Florida
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    More or less by osmosis from the surroundings; my parents did not do the birds & bees talk with me, ever, probably because the discomfort level about sexuality was so high in the 1950s and 1960s. When "the pill" and the "love generation" came along in the late '60s, gratuitous straight sex became much more a public topic, but I don't remember gay sex coming along for the ride. I didn't think any of it applied to me at the time, so I didn't think a whole lot about it until I moved to the Bay Area in the late '70s, where a strange disease that seemed to only be infecting gay males was making a lot of local news on the SFO TV stations; it was not good news.
     
  9. Rancid

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2014
    Messages:
    140
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I remember actually thinking about the concept of two men or women being together when I was very young. I was like "huh, wouldn't that be something." I presented the idea to my mother and she confirmed that it was an actual thing that happened, and of course expressed her disapproval of it. That was the beginning of me realizing my attraction to women. I learned more information on it through the internet, as I also had my own computer at a very young age. That's something my mother grew to resent; my access to the internet.
     
  10. Chief Beifong

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2014
    Messages:
    0
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Gender:
    Female
    As a Filipino, I already knew the term 'gay' since I can remember. But as I grew up in a religious family, they never explained to me about gays much, their only explanation was 'gays are males who act like females and vice versa for lesbians'. My father has a dislike against the LGBTs, so I kind of avoided any topic concerning the LGBTs. Until when I was about 12-13 years old is when I fully understood. From then on I showed my disgust against my dad's discrimination against them.

    The first time I was exposed to 'gayness' was through TV shows (Glee, Grey's Anatomy, etc) and, of course, my friends. So my curiosity got the best of me and I was soon researching about these type of things. Plus, that's also the age when I was questioning my sexuality. So if I knew what being gay was then, I probably would have realised I was a lesbian earlier. It just never crossed my mind that it's possible for me.
     
  11. timo

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2012
    Messages:
    2,904
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    berlin
    One of my (older) cousins is gay and has been living together with his boyfriend for over 20 years now, so when I grew up it was 'normal' that they were together. But if I remember correctly someone once had to tell me they're actually a couple and not just friends. I was like "okay, cool" and moved on with what I was doing.
     
  12. AAASAS

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2012
    Messages:
    1,330
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto Area
    Like ten or twelve
     
  13. QueerTransEnby

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2014
    Messages:
    3,708
    Likes Received:
    7
    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    Some people
    Pretty much when I experimented with my friend when I was 12-13 and put 2 and 2 together.
     
  14. Aspen

    Advisor Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2014
    Messages:
    1,470
    Likes Received:
    239
    Location:
    Ohio
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I'm not actually sure. I grew up in a heavily Catholic household and homosexuality just wasn't discussed. I assume I knew about it but it was an abstract concept to me. Something that existed but far away. I had friends on the internet who were gay and I'd read gay fanfiction by then.

    Then my junior year of high school I went to a dance and there was a senior boy dancing with his boyfriend. I thought it was adorable and not at all strange. I was so excited when I went home and told my mom about it. She was less enthused.
     
  15. ffxii

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2014
    Messages:
    72
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Croatia
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I don't really remember the first time I heard word gay, but there's a pretty huge chance that I heard faggot as an insult and later found out that the meaning of the insult and then the word gay since in my family my father uses that insult a lot.
     
  16. ahardlife

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2014
    Messages:
    471
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Derbyshire peaks
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    internet
    book I stole from a market stall am a bad man I know :eek:
    school mates very homophobic comments .
     
  17. Kinger

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2013
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ireland
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I first found out around 8 or 9 i think from the simpsons
     
  18. bicomplicated

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2014
    Messages:
    624
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    KY
    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I've heard the term all my life. Unfortunately as a few more have stated at church in a negative way. One of the many, many things preached at church that just downright made me feel bad about myself. It took me a long time to love and accept myself.
     
  19. happydavid

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2014
    Messages:
    1,617
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    A town near Birmingham England
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I've heard about it when I was a kid
     
  20. PICollins91

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2014
    Messages:
    124
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Dueling Banjos, Florida
    First time I heard of it was when I was like five or six and my Dad's boss told me Batman was gay... yeah, not the best way to learn about it, my Dad bluntly said it was a "guy who smooched with other guys" to explain.