Why a Bible belt conservative spent a year pretending to be gay

[Troppus]

@BigT

So is it because he’s a Christian, or do you just live a sad world where no one is ever a good person? It’s already been explained in this thread how little sense it makes to go back under cover after everyone either accepts you. Do you really think that any homophobe will go “Well, he was just faking, so I guess I can not hate him”?

So you’re saying that because he’s a Christian, he can’t be gay? Or because he’s gay, he can’t be a Christian?

[Annie-Xmas]

I think this brings out one big thing–That it’s very hard to hate any group when you realize that the people in it are pretty much just like you and me. I once had a 68 year old co-worker say “I hate what gays do.” I asked him “What do they do that you hate? Brush their teeth? Go to the movies? Raise their children?” yada yada yada for about ten minutes. Then I asked “How would YOU like to be judged on something you do for maybe an hour every week?”

He later told me he did a 180 degree turn on the subject.

[astro]

@BigT

So is it because he’s a Christian, or do you just live a sad world where no one is ever a good person? It’s already been explained in this thread how little sense it makes to go back under cover after everyone either accepts you. Do you really think that any homophobe will go “Well, he was just faking, so I guess I can not hate him”?

What he did makes little sense on any level. Presenting and immersing yourself as a gay man and participant in gay culture then pulling back and saying it was a some sort of a home brewed sociological experiment on bias smells more like a dodge to me than a desire to fight the power.

[a35362]

@Annie-Xmas

I think this brings out one big thing–That it’s very hard to hate any group when you realize that the people in it are pretty much just like you and me. I once had a 68 year old co-worker say “I hate what gays do.” I asked him “What do they do that you hate? Brush their teeth? Go to the movies? Raise their children?” yada yada yada for about ten minutes. Then I asked “How would YOU like to be judged on something you do for maybe an hour every week?”

He later told me he did a 180 degree turn on the subject.

The Force is strong in this one!

[Troppus]

@astro

What he did makes little sense on any level. Presenting and immersing yourself as a gay man and participant in gay culture then pulling back and saying it was a some sort of a home brewed sociological experiment on bias smells more like a dodge to me than a desire to fight the power.

And guessing that his curiosity about gay culture may be the result of his own latent tendencies isn’t a condemnation of his character, so I’m not sure why BigT and AprilR bristle at the suggestion. There is nothing wrong with being gay, whether he conducted a legit social experiment or tested the waters.

Would the two of you feel any different if a guy immersed himself in strip clubs and spent a year elbow deep in strippers in order to be a better Christian? Would you figure he was pious and devout, or just enjoyed keeping company with ladies of the pole.

[Runs_With_Scissors]

@Sicks_Ate

I had a thought in the back of my mind when I read the article. I wasn’t going to say anything because I though I might get hammered for it…until I heard a bit of an interview with this guy this morning.

I think he’s gay.

I can’t find the video, but I think it was possibly ABC news.

The whole thing immediately set off my BS alarm. I can’t explain why. I think the entire truth is not being revealed.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@gracer

Being a woman my eyes are pretty open in that respect, though it would still be interesting to see what it would be like if I spent a year as a man.

I think the flaw with a man becoming a woman purely for the experience would be that your family would not immediately treat you differently (other than possibly being prejudiced). In my family for example, my grandmother speaks in a way to me that implies an expectation that I do all the cooking and housework. My SO is never expected to help in the kitchen, rather he would be asked by my grandfather to help him in the wine cellar, or, honour of honours, to do tool-stuff in the shed. I was not allowed in the wine cellar and I was not allowed to touch any tools. I doubt if my SO started dressing as a woman, these implications would fully extend to him. So in that respect, you could still never understand the experience of being a woman. He would not know what it means to grow up with these limitations and what they do to you. Then of course there is the physical aspect, but that’s obvious.

It would still be an admirable thing to do, and very interesting.

I realized you were a woman about two posts after I posted my experiment for you. It might be interesting to live as a man for a while - I know from talking with my husband that he has challenges that I would never have considered. For example, when shopping for cars, I just said I had to discuss it with my husband and walked away from the car sales guy, no problem. When he said he had to discuss it with his wife, he would get attitude from them about not wearing the pants in the family or some shit like that. Maybe we should start a thread on this.

@Sicks_Ate

I had a thought in the back of my mind when I read the article. I wasn’t going to say anything because I though I might get hammered for it…until I heard a bit of an interview with this guy this morning.

I think he’s gay.

I can’t find the video, but I think it was possibly ABC news.

Here’s a youtube video for those of us not in the US. I think he has a bit of a lisp - that makes him sound gayer than he would otherwise.

@Annie-Xmas

I think this brings out one big thing–That it’s very hard to hate any group when you realize that the people in it are pretty much just like you and me. I once had a 68 year old co-worker say “I hate what gays do.” I asked him “What do they do that you hate? Brush their teeth? Go to the movies? Raise their children?” yada yada yada for about ten minutes. Then I asked “How would YOU like to be judged on something you do for maybe an hour every week?”

He later told me he did a 180 degree turn on the subject.

My 70 year old mom is not very comfortable with the idea of gayness, either - when it comes up, I talk with her about it very straight-forwardly, without challenging her too much, and while she isn’t going to ever be completely comfortable with the idea of homosexuality, I think she does actually take in what I say to her.