What Do It Mean to Be a Gay Man? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• WHY ARE THERE GAY MEN?
• IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE A GAY MAN?
• STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS
• A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN
• NFL ACH BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. MEN’S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY

WHY ARE THERE GAY MEN?

Unrstand important health issu for gay men and other men who have sex wh men, and get tips for matag good Mayo Clic Staff.

However, there are some specific health ncerns that gay men and other men who have sex wh men need to be aware of. Gay men and other men who have sex wh men may be at an creased risk of prsn, bipolar disorr and anxiety.

IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND

Gay men also are more likely to have body image problems and eatg disorrs, such as anorexia and bulimia, than are other men. Many health re and mental health anizatns foced on the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny also offer substance e treatment or may be able to provi rmatn about lol rourc.

And rearch has shown that gay men and other men who have sex wh men experience timate partner vlence at a higher rate than do other men.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

But gay men might be more likely to stay silent about this kd of vlence due to fear of discrimatn. A lack of shelters and other facili equipped to offer gay men a safe, supportive place to get help also may make dntg to seek re.

Concern about homophobia and the stigma sometim associated wh homosexualy may prevent some gay men om gettg route health re.

Gay, bisexual and queer men's attus and unrstandgs of timate partner vlence and sexual asslt. A spg review of timate partner vlence as relat to the experienc of gay and bisexual men. While female sexualy appears to be more fluid, rearch suggts that male gayns is an born, unalterable, strongly geilly fluenced tra.

HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)

But nsirg that the tra disurag the type of sex that leads to procreatn — that is, sex wh women — and would therefore seem to thwart s own chanc of beg geilly passed on to the next generatn, why are there gay men at all? For several years, studi led by Andrea Camper Ciani at the Universy of Padova Italy and others have found that mothers and maternal nts of gay men tend to have signifintly more offsprg than the maternal relativ of straight men.

The rults show strong support for the "balancg selectn hypothis, " which is fast beg the accepted theory of the geic basis of male theory holds that the same geic factors that duce gayns mal also promote fecundy (high reproductive succs) those mal' female maternal relativ. Through this tra-off, the maternal relativ' "gay man gen, " though they aren't exprsed as such, tend to get passed to future generatns spe of their tenncy to make their male herors no one knows which gen, exactly, the might be, at least one of them appears to be loted on the X chromosome, acrdg to geic molg by Camper Ciani and his lleagu.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Mal her only one X chromosome — the one om their mother — and if clus the gene that promot gayns mal and fecundy femal, he is likely to be gay while his mom and her female relativ are likely to have lots of kids. If a dghter hers that same X-lked gene, she herself may not be gay, but she n pass on to her sons.

Prevly, the Italian rearchers suggted that the "gay man gene" might simply crease androphilia, or attractn to men, thereby makg the mal who posss the gene homosexual and the femal who posss more promiscuo. But after vtigatg the characteristics of 161 female maternal relativ of homosexual and heterosexual men, the rearchers have adjted their hypothis. Rather than makg women more attracted to men, the "gay man gene" appears to make the women more attractive to men.

WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE A GAY MAN?

The androphilic pattern that we found is about femal who crease their reproductive value to attract the bt mal, " Camper Ciani told Life's Ltle out, the moms and nts of gay men have an advantage over the moms and nts of straight men for several reasons: They are more fertile, displayg fewer gynelogil disorrs or plitns durg pregnancy; they are more extroverted, as well as funnier, happier and more relaxed; and they have fewer fay problems and social anxieti. "It is que possible that there are several fluenc on formg a homosexual orientatn, " said Gelf Rieger, a sexual orientatn rearcher at Cornell Universy.

But as for why geic factors would exist that make men gay, appears that the gen make women, as well as gay men, allurg to other men.

Sometim a woman may have been a heterosexual relatnship for years and yet feel somethg is somehow "off;" and she may fd herself askg, "Is my hband gay? " Many women fd this qutn unthkable but acrdg to Bonnie Kaye,, an expert women married to gay men, is timated that 4 ln women have been, or are, married to gay men. If a hband is gay, n vastate not only the relatnship but the straight wife as well.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS

If the hband is hont wh both you and wh himself (read: How Do I Know If I Am Gay? Unfortunately, is timated that 50% of gay hbands hi their homosexualy om their wiv and don't reach this place of honty on their own.

A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN

In many s, is the wife, who after spectg that somethg is wrong, mt nont the gay hband wh the evince, and only then n hontly be achieved. But if you're wonrg, "Is my man gay, " might be helpful to know that there are signs to look for, acrdg to Kaye.

NFL ACH BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. MEN’S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY

Kaye has veloped the Official Gay Hband Checklist to help women know if their hbands are gay. A hband may be gay and display none of those signs or a hband may display the signs and not be gay. Kaye advis that women "follow their stcts" when cidg whether their hband may be gay.