My parents don't want me to be gay but I am - Childle

Contents:

• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?
• LETTERS TO THE EDOR: I'M GAY AND DON'T WANT TO PATRONIZE BIGOTS. THANKS, SUPREME COURT
• LONGEST GAY TEST!
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY
• HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?
• OPN I’M GAY. AND I WANT MY KID TO BE GAY, TOO.
• HOW TO BEHAVE AROUND GAY PEOPLE IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT THEM
• LGBT WEBSE SURVEY FDS THAT 93% OF GAY MEN POLLED DON’T WANT TO BE LABELED “QUEER”
• I'M A GUY TERTED RECEPTIVE ANAL SEX: DO THAT MEAN I'M GAY?

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that.

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.

I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?

“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self, ” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry. The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.

For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

LETTERS TO THE EDOR: I'M GAY AND DON'T WANT TO PATRONIZE BIGOTS. THANKS, SUPREME COURT

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. It is very homogeneo/ hetero-normative and beg a tholic stutn is not the easit environment for queer stunts.

A mon argument for the acceptance of homosexualy and same-sex marriage is that, if God is love, He would not nmn the love of others. The world and maybe even our own sensivi might say that allowg others to live a homosexual relatnship is to see to their well-beg.

LONGEST GAY TEST!

If homosexualy rults a dishonorg, harmful separatn om God’s blsg, then the lovg thg to do is to stay away om .

Even if they agree wh the Bible that homosexualy is a s and rolve not to seek fulfillment of their sexual sir, they mt still fd love other relatnships—the self-sacrificg love of agape and the iendly pannship of phileo. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angel Tim)To the edor: I wonr if the LGBTQ+ muny realiz that the Supreme Court lg favor of a webse signer who didn't want to create weddg s for gay upl n work our favor as well. ("How the ripple effect of the Supreme Court’s 303 Creative cisn uld swamp civil rights, " Opn, July 12)As a gay man, I am always ncerned if the bs where I spend my money are supportive of my muny.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

Every time i realise i’m gonna be gay forever, (stupid thg to say i know) i am filled wh existential dread. Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love.

There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia. 'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022. Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife.

The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage".

HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?

However, 90% of the time people fd out that I am gay, I’m treated different than what a normal person would be. I’ve been lled “urageo” and “amazg” for beg openly gay while at the same place my straight peers are actively beg discrimated agast due to them beg normal the ey of society. Your iends, who might already spect that you’re gay, will get to know you on a eper level and likely feel much closer to you.

Really, if you read the stori of olr bisexuals and homosexuals who tried to live their whole liv the closet, they'll break your heart seven ways to Sunday. Unrstand that you're hardly alone the feelgs: there are a pretty rare few of who are gay, lbian, bisexual, queer, etc who haven't strongly wished we weren't at one pot or another, mostly -- and often ONLY -- jt bee the world we live n still be so discrimatory and uniendly towards , and beg anythg but heterosexual -- a siar way to beg anythg but whe -- n sometim be somethg that mak our liv more difficult than might be otherwise. Md, more people are bisexual -- whether they choose to partner wh someone of the same genr or not -- than those who are heterosexual and homosexual, even though more people intify as heterosexual and choose to live their liv only datg oppose-sex.

In other words, your fay havg any level of homophobia isn't about you -- save that theirs likely bbed off on you, too -- 's about them.

OPN I’M GAY. AND I WANT MY KID TO BE GAY, TOO.

“HOCD”, short for “Homosexual OCD”, is the term ed for a theme of Obssive Compulsive Disorr which the sufferer has obssns—unwanted tsive thoughts—surroundg their sexual orientatn. I will be g the term “HOCD” throughout this article to discs obssns of those who intify as heterosexual and have relentls doubts about whether or not they are gay. A more reprentative way to scribe the obssns is “Sexual Orientatn OCD” bee OCD n latch onto anyone’s sexualy, whether that be someone who intifi as gay or queer or asexual.

Furthermore, as sexual obssns of OCD n be about perverse ntent (fear that one is a pedophile or unwanted thoughts about ct), the term “Homosexual OCD” impli that homosexualy is perverse.

The way many clients scribe is that they had a good sense of their heterosexual orientatn and then randomly had an tsive thought such as “what if you’re gay? HOCD is not to be misnsted wh nial or sexual reprsn, as those who are reprsg their te sexualy know that they are attracted to the same sex but ph away, often due to shame that om livg a heteronormative and homophobic world. It is a touchy subject among OCD sufferers and therapists alike who proclaim that HOCD is not homophobia.

HOW TO BEHAVE AROUND GAY PEOPLE IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT THEM

While HOCD is not sexual reprsn, is not accurate to say that every person wh HOCD is not homophobic. “I have HOCD and I’m not homophobic but I would tell my kid that they should not act on their sir if they were gay. “I have HOCD and jt bee I am not fortable wh or don’t agree wh one’s sexual preference don’t make me homophobic.

It is important to weed out what is what bee addn to hurtg the LGBTQIA+ muny, ternalized homophobia may be keepg those wh HOCD further stuck.

An OCD specialist n addrs unrlyg, or sometim overt, homophobia by askg the sufferer why their tsive thoughts bother them so much. It is important to note that not everyone wh HOCD is homophobic and that the tsive thoughts are not a choice.

LGBT WEBSE SURVEY FDS THAT 93% OF GAY MEN POLLED DON’T WANT TO BE LABELED “QUEER”

It is equally important to acknowledge homophobia that is prent among some OCD sufferers bee nyg the existence of homophobia perpetuat s existence. The realy is that we live a very heteronormative world, which is reflected through mastream media showsg heterosexual relatnships, lack of diversy polics, relig groups that nounce homosexualy and claim—wh zero evince—that gay folks will go to hell, and laws that enable discrimatn agast the LGBTQIA+ muny. While may not be the dividual’s flt for ternalizg homophobia, is up to them to undo what has been tght—OCD sufferer or not.

OCD specialists spend a lot of time advotg for and protectg the OCD muny, which is why so many are quick to note that HOCD is not homophobia. Instead of sayg is the “fear of beg gay when one is straight”, scribe for what really is: the fear of not knowg one’s te sexual orientatn. Changg the language we e and ensurg that homophobia is not reflected our practic will protect the OCD muny as a whole.

If you want or need to know if you're gay, jt s yourself down now and answer all 45 of the qutns hontly. Most people the LGBTQ+ muny know om experience that acceptg your sexualy will lead to your beg a happier, more open this gui, the term gay has been ed to clu all forms of non-heterosexual attractn, whether that be people who are lbian, gay, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or otherwise not straight. There isn't any need to change yourself - beg gay is jt another way of simply existg, and there is nothg wrong wh at all.

I'M A GUY TERTED RECEPTIVE ANAL SEX: DO THAT MEAN I'M GAY?

The fact that I am gay is jt another facet of who I am, jt as beg creative, or optimistic, or havg brown ey is. Beg gay do not necsarily make you any ls mascule or feme, and there is no need or prsure to nform to stereotyp that don't feel right to you - bee you are who you are.