Is Your Man Gay, Straight, or Bisexual? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE A GAY MAN?
• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR BOYIEND IS GAY
• GAY VS GUY - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?GAY | GUY |IN LLOQUIAL TERMS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS FUN, FABULO, TASTEFUL; FASHNABLE WHILE GUY IS A MALE.AS PROPER NOUNS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS {{SURNAME|A=AN|ENGLISH|OM=NICKNAM}}, ORIGALLY A NICKNAME FOR A CHEERFUL OR LIVELY PERSON WHILE GUY IS A GIVEN NAME RIVED OM GERMANIC.AS NOUNS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS A HOMOSEXUAL, PECIALLY A MALE HOMOSEXUAL; SEE ALSO LBIAN WHILE GUY IS A GUI; A LEAR OR NDUCTOR.AS VERBS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS TO MAKE HAPPY OR CHEERFUL WHILE GUY IS TO EQUIP WH A SUPPORT BLE.AS AN ADJECTIVE GAYIS HAPPY, JOYFUL, AND LIVELY.OTHER COMPARISONS: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?GAYNS VS GUYNSGUYISH VS GAYISHGUYED VS GAYEDGUYS VS GAYSGUYG VS GAYGGAYENGLISHPROPER NOUN(EN PROPER NOUN), ORIGALLY A NICKNAME FOR A CHEERFUL OR LIVELY OM THE WORD GAY, "JOYFUL"; RARE TODAY.. ALSO A SHORTENED FORM OF GABRIEL, GAYLORD AND SIAR NAM, OR TRANSFERRED OM THE SURNAME.* 1992 , UNTO THE SONS , BALLANTE BOOKS 1993, ISBN 0804110336, PAGE 15- - - MY FATHER'S FATHER, GAETANO TALE ( WHOSE NAME I HERED AFTER MY BIRTH 1932, THE ANGLICIZED OM OF "GAY "), WAS AN ATYPILLY FEARLS TRAVELER,* 2004 , BAD DIRT , FOURTH ESTATE, ISBN 0007196911, PAGE 32"MR GAY BRAWLS. WHAT A NAME.""IT DIDN'T E TO MEAN WHAT MEANS NOW. PLENTY WERE NAMED GAY'. EVEN NEVADA. WAS OLD ' GAY PCH HAD A GAS STATN WNEMUC. NOBODY THOUGHT NOTH ABOUT AND HE RAISED A RAILROAD R OF KIDS.- - -ANAGRAMS*GUY
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY
• QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
• IS YOUR MAN GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BISEXUAL?
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GAY
• GAY

WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE A GAY MAN?

The term "gay" may be nfg and even foreign to some, forcg people to ask, "What is gay?" or "Am I Gay?" And while some might thk the fn of "gay" is simple, to many, actually isn't.

The term "homosexualy"1 was first ed by Victorian scientists who nsired same-sex sexual attractn and behavr a "moral ficiency."2. Homosexualy is still the rrect term clilly, but even though homosexualy is no longer nsired immoral, some people feel there are still negative overton to the word given s orig. Gay is a term that is not genr specific so men or women n be termed "gay." When intifyg people as gay though, 's important to nsir three thgs.

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

For example, a person may feel same-sex sexual attractn but not intify as "gay" whereas another person who behav sexually towards men and women may intify as "gay." Moreover, is not unmon for people to intify as "gay" at some tim their liv, while straight (not gay) at other tim. So many gay men grow up believg there is somethg “wrong” wh bee we are different om other supposedly “normal” mal.

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

It prumably means the advertiser nsirs himself a “real” man—real, that is, acrdg to a standard of masculy he don’t attribute to other gay men. So many gay men learn we are different om other boys by havg the fact poted out and ridiculed by bulli durg our young, most imprsnable, years. As every gay man knows who has been sulted or asslted for his actual or perceived sexual orientatn, there are steep penalti for vlatg the Boy Co as there are for anyone who is “different” om the prumed (typilly whe, heterosexual, middle-class) standard.

How do a gay kid survive the trma he suffers for beg different a culture that still nmns his difference as somethg bad or “ls-than” and wants to mold him to the same shape tri to mold every boy?

Robert Pollack says the most important thg a fay n do to support their gay son is to keep lovg him, “to nvey to him, as soon as he shar his feelgs, that he is still loved through and through, that his sexual orientatn will not any way dimish how much he is admired and rpected. He needs to know that ’s okay not only to be gay if that's what he is, but to be a man who choos what beg a man means for himself. Fortunately there is a long history of gay men who bucked the accepted fns of masculy and created liv that exprsed their unrstandg of themselv and how they choose to exprs their inty as men who don’t necsarily f tradnal molds.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR BOYIEND IS GAY

The late Harry Hay often lled "the father of the morn gay movement, " found the Mattache Society Los Angel the fall of 1950 for gay men to gather and ponr the qutns Hay had long been askg: Who are gay people? Hay didn’t tend the Mattach to be a polil anizatn per se, but a group that would e together to enhance their self-unrstandg and explore the ntributns gay people had ma to the human race through the ag.

In a 1987 say tled “A Separate People Whose Time Has Come, ” Hay scribed homosexuals as “spir people, ” who, throughout the ag, had served society their rol as “msengers and tercers, shamans of both genrs, prits and prits, imagemakers and prophets, mim and rhapsos, poets and playwrights, healers and nurturers, teachers and preachers, tkers and tkerers, searchers and rearchers.

Hay believed that gay people had somethg special to teach nongay people about human life, and for that reason should be nurtured, rather than reviled, by society. He postulated that “gay people reprent a geic mutatn of nscns whose active fosterg is now required for human survival.

GAY VS GUY - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?GAY | GUY |IN LLOQUIAL TERMS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS FUN, FABULO, TASTEFUL; FASHNABLE WHILE GUY IS A MALE.AS PROPER NOUNS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS {{SURNAME|A=AN|ENGLISH|OM=NICKNAM}}, ORIGALLY A NICKNAME FOR A CHEERFUL OR LIVELY PERSON WHILE GUY IS A GIVEN NAME RIVED OM GERMANIC.AS NOUNS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS A HOMOSEXUAL, PECIALLY A MALE HOMOSEXUAL; SEE ALSO LBIAN WHILE GUY IS A GUI; A LEAR OR NDUCTOR.AS VERBS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAY AND GUYIS THAT GAY IS TO MAKE HAPPY OR CHEERFUL WHILE GUY IS TO EQUIP WH A SUPPORT BLE.AS AN ADJECTIVE GAYIS HAPPY, JOYFUL, AND LIVELY.OTHER COMPARISONS: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?GAYNS VS GUYNSGUYISH VS GAYISHGUYED VS GAYEDGUYS VS GAYSGUYG VS GAYGGAYENGLISHPROPER NOUN(EN PROPER NOUN), ORIGALLY A NICKNAME FOR A CHEERFUL OR LIVELY OM THE WORD GAY, "JOYFUL"; RARE TODAY.. ALSO A SHORTENED FORM OF GABRIEL, GAYLORD AND SIAR NAM, OR TRANSFERRED OM THE SURNAME.* 1992 , UNTO THE SONS , BALLANTE BOOKS 1993, ISBN 0804110336, PAGE 15- - - MY FATHER'S FATHER, GAETANO TALE ( WHOSE NAME I HERED AFTER MY BIRTH 1932, THE ANGLICIZED OM OF "GAY "), WAS AN ATYPILLY FEARLS TRAVELER,* 2004 , BAD DIRT , FOURTH ESTATE, ISBN 0007196911, PAGE 32"MR GAY BRAWLS. WHAT A NAME.""IT DIDN'T E TO MEAN WHAT MEANS NOW. PLENTY WERE NAMED GAY'. EVEN NEVADA. WAS OLD ' GAY PCH HAD A GAS STATN WNEMUC. NOBODY THOUGHT NOTH ABOUT AND HE RAISED A RAILROAD R OF KIDS.- - -ANAGRAMS*GUY

Hay believed that gay men are different om heterosexuals and that those differenc go much eper than mere sexual attractn to other men. He said gay men look at the world differently, are uniquely nonaggrsive, nonpetive, oriented toward sharg and cled to velop what Hay lled “subject-subject” love relatnships of equals.

In a 1990 terview for the Washgton Bla, Harry Hay told me our llg as gay men “is not only to accept our uniquens, but to affirm , make joyo. For gay men, learng to accept our “different” sexual orientatn as a posive aspect of ourselv is only part of our “g out. In other words, 5-10% of people experience same-sex sexual attractn or behavr; of urse, this don't speak to what mak people gay.

While psychologil factors may crease the likelihood that someone is gay, no sgle factor is known to e homosexualy. It very much appears that same-sex sexual attractn is not a choice but actg on is; so if you fe gay as the mere prence of same-sex attractn, then om everythg we unrstand, beg gay is not a choice. If, on the other hand, you nsir someone to be gay only if they act on their same-sex attractn then beg gay n be nsired a choice pendg on an dividual's behavr.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY

Whether science n ultimately prove the blogy of beg gay or not, 's important to support all adults their choic no matter how they intify. Often ed to refer to asexual people  a siar manner as “gay” or “straight” are ed to refer to homosexual or heterosexual people. Ally: A person who supports and rpects sexual diversy, acts acrdgly to challenge homophobic and heterosexist remarks and behavrs, and is willg to explore and unrstand the forms of bias wh themselv.

An umbrella term that refers to members of a subculture the gay and bisexual male muni and is often fed as more of an attu or sense of fort wh natural masculy and bodi.

QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Bicur: An dividual who typilly intifi as gay or straight while showg some cursy for a relatnship or sexual activy wh a person of the genr they do not favor.

Gay: At tim, “gay” is ed to refer to all people, regardls of sex, who have their primary sexual and or romantic attractns to people of the same sex.

The term n also exclively refer to men who are emotnally, romantilly, sexually, affectnately, or relatnally attracted to other men, or who intify as members of the gay muny. Heteronormativy: The assumptn, dividuals or stutns, that everyone is heterosexual, or that heterosexualy is superr to homosexualy and bisexualy. Also, the benefs that lbians, gay men and bisexuals receive as a rult of claimg a heterosexual inty and nyg a lbian, gay or bisexual inty.

IS YOUR MAN GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BISEXUAL?

Homoflexible: A person who is mostly attracted to the same sex/genr, but n, on ocsn be attracted to the oppose sex/genr. Homophobic reactns often lead to tolerance, bigotry and vlence agast anyone not actg wh soc-cultural norms of heterosexualy. Bee most LGBTQ people are raised the same society as heterosexuals, they learn the same beliefs and stereotyp prevalent the domant society, leadg to a phenomenon known as ternalized homophobia, whereas LGBTQ-intified dividuals feel shame, guilt or hatred towards the part of themselv intified as LGBTQ.

Internalized Homophobia: The fear and self-hate of one’s own homosexualy or bisexualy dividuals who have learned negative ias about homosexualy throughout childhood.

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

Ksey Sle: The ntuum mol vised by Aled Ksey 1948 that plotted sexualy om 0 to 6; 0 beg exclively heterosexual and 6 beg exclively homosexual. Leather culture is most visible gay muni and most often associated wh gay men (“leathermen”), but is also reflected var ways the gay, lbian, bisexual, and heterosexual worlds.

Metrosexual: A term popularized the 1990s referrg to a heterosexual male who assum characteristics tradnally associated wh gay male stereotyp.

Pri: A healthy self-rpect, which, the ntext of the gay muny, promot empowerment, tn, safe livg, and the sense that is “okay to be LGBT+. Queer: Term scribg people who have a non-normative genr inty, sexual orientatn or sexual anatomy—clus lbians, gay men, bisexual people, and transgenr people and alli. Same-Genr Lovg (SGL): A term ed by some Ain-Amerin dividuals to scribe their sexual orientatn, as a rult of the perceptn that “gay” and “lbian” are primarily whe terms.

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GAY

If you're a woman, you may have noticed thgs about your boyiend that lead you to believe he's gay or terted men. If you believe your boyiend lov and r for you but he "seems to be gay, " keep md that he uld be bisexual, pansexual, or terted men.

If he’s gay, he might thrive on other men’s attentn, equently touch or hug them, or exchange flirty ments wh them (pecially about their physil appearance). ” Notice if he acts unfortable around gay men, regularly mak homophobic ments or jok, or liberately never talks about anythg remotely gay.

GAY

He might also be wrtlg wh ternalized homophobia or self-loathg bee of the nflict between his inty and his upbrgg.