Sexual Orientation

[WFChris]

Anyone going to Gay Days Disneyland this year? Should we start a thread?

[sammmmmy]

I actually love this whole thing. I think its so friggin great that the coaster community is so like...accepting of every kind of person. Like its cool that coasters can bring literally anyone together, gay, straight, bi, black, white, asian...it doesn't even matter. Its just such a unique thing to like and it makes me feel so good that its such an awesome group of people. Seriously

[alilstronger]

I actually love this whole thing. I think its so friggin great that the coaster community is so like...accepting of every kind of person. Like its cool that coasters can bring literally anyone together, gay, straight, bi, black, white, asian...it doesn't even matter. Its just such a unique thing to like and it makes me feel so good that its such an awesome group of people. Seriously

 

I could not agree with you more. Now that I have enjoyed a WONDERFUL TPR trip this summer I will say I did not feel out of place the whole trip - no matter how gay I dressed or acted

[Philrad71]

One of the coolest things I have seen in a while...Foo Fighters "surprise" the Westboro Baptist Church protester douchebags in Kansas with 'Keep It Clean (Hot Buns)'.

 

But on a sad note, a 7th grader in Buffalo just committed suicide from gay bullying.

 

[QueerRudie]

During DSB I found these signs... and for some reason, they apply to a pretty good chunk of TPR...

 

Hmmmm...

 

Ummm... yeah...

 

(For some reason, I wanted to get a few of our fellow TPR members NEXT to these signs...)

[RonFrost]

I haven't posted in a while, and I find it encouraging to come back here to find this thread still very active.

 

It's really great that there are not only a lot of out, proud gays in TPR, but that so many are so willing to offer advice to the ones struggling with coming out, or who are just accepting that they are not 100% straight.

 

You guys make me proud!

[TJ27]

Strait and Proud!

[Moose]

I'm gay. Love roller coasters, but the bf does not. Oh well...

 

I'm in exactly the same situation.

[coasterfreak101]

^^Now if only you could spell the word "straight"...

[jynx242]

I'm gay. Love roller coasters, but the bf does not. Oh well...

 

I'm in exactly the same situation.

 

I was in the opposite situation, and it hasn't gone well He loved being on the trip this summer...just with everyone else but me. I'd told him he would meet awesome people, and he did. Liked their company better than mine . Oh well - we live, we learn. Perhaps we'll reconcile - I still love him, but if not...Single and READY TO MINGLE!

[Nyteowl]

Well at least 2% like me .

[the ghost]

^ I see what you did there...

[David H]

I'm gay. Anyone who's seen Robb's early (pre-TPR) videos, when I was always the token funny gay guy at the beginning of the credits knows this.

 

For those who are wondering why there are so many gays on TPR or in coaster enthusiasm in general, I think it's that way for many hobbies and online groups. And there are a lot of reasons for this. I've been involved with online fandom and some in person clubs over the years for various things (coasters, Doctor Who, comics, etc.) And there always seem to be more gays involved than there are in the general population. I think that there are several factors for this. And it absolutely seems to be more true for gay men than for women, for some reason.

 

Note that everything I'm saying here is overly generalized and obviously doens't apply to everyone. And, as things have gotten better over the years, it probably applies a lot less to the younger generations than it does to us older farts!

 

First off, I find that the people who get heavily involved with most hobbies -- especially online -- tend to be a lot more tolerant than the population at large. That tends to make gay people want to become more involved, because we can be ourselves with less fear. Look at this board and club as a great example. Gay people can be themselves without taking much crap. People also tend to be less racist, anti-semitic, etc. And if some people here are bigoted, they tend to keep it to themselves. That's certainly going to be appealing to a closeted kid from a small town, who doesn't know other gay people! Or anyone, actually! And certainly Robb and Elissa have created and maintain TPR that way. So, you'll find a lot more people wanting to spend more time here than in their real lives.

 

But more importantly, I think that gay people tend to throw themselves into their hobbies a lot more.

 

I know I sure do. I don't just watch Doctor Who, I have ALL of the books, and the DVD's, and the audios, etc. I used to not just read comics, but I had tens of thousands of them and read news about them online a lot. (I've since kind of dropped out of that hobby, as others have taken precedence.) I got a fish tank a few years ago, and now have nearly 200 fish in 6 tanks, going to a monthly meeting at the local Aquarium of other people who raise fish, and occasionally getting rare fish shipped to me. i used to not just follow radical politics, but I organized demonstrations and got arrested nine times, and still get involved from time to time, and always read about politics online. I don't just love dance music, but I go clubbing at least once a week (at 43 years old!), I'll go to NYC to see a favorite DJ or go to a dance festival, and I've taken time off from coaster trips to hit the local clubs and visit the clubbing island of Ibiza, Spain. It's safe to say that I throw myself into my hobbies! Coastering is the same. My count may not be as high as Robb's Elissa's or Richard's, but it's a pretty respectable 861.

 

I think there are a lot of factors for that, many of which are becoming less common as society becomes more open. For one thing, American society's biggest hobby is sports, and a lot of us aren't into sports. Most straight men in society tend to channel most of their hobby energy towards sports. And more and more straight women are starting to. Fewer gay guys do. So we're more likely to jump into what other things we're interested in.

 

For another thing, we're less likely to be raising a family. That takes up enormous amounts of time, energy, money and other resources. If you're not raising a family, it's certainly easier to spend hours online talking about coasters. And it's a hell of a lot easier to take a few big, expensive coaster trips each year! Most of the families that I know in this hobby spend a lot less time online talking coasters and maybe take one big coaster trip per year, if that. The same goes for other hobbies, like going to comic or sci-fi conventions.

 

Sure, all of this is changing, slowly. Certainly, there are plenty of gay sports fans, and plenty of gay couples raising kids. But, overall, they're still a small, but growing percentage.

 

Maybe there's something about coastering that brings out more gays into this hobby and this board. And we should remember that the poll at the beginning of this thread is not a random sampling -- I imagine that gays are more likely to read this thread and participate in the poll. As such, it's probably not a totally accurate representation of the group as a whole, though it shows trends.

 

But I think it's more a factor of all the things I talked about above that brings so man of us into the hobby and onto TPR.

[funkeymon]

So I am happy to say that I came out to my dad. And he fully accepted me. I could never be happier!

[the ghost]

^ Congrats!

[GhostoftheAlps]

That's wonderful!! Congratulations!

[MidtownCoaster]

^^ Congrats! My family was the same way a few years ago when I started the coming out journey. Makes it easier.

 

HAPPY ATLANTA PRIDE, EVERYONE (at least everyone in the Southeast. haha)

[alilstronger]

I'm gay. Love roller coasters, but the bf does not. Oh well...

 

I'm in exactly the same situation.

 

I was in the opposite situation, and it hasn't gone well He loved being on the trip this summer...just with everyone else but me. I'd told him he would meet awesome people, and he did. Liked their company better than mine . Oh well - we live, we learn. Perhaps we'll reconcile - I still love him, but if not...Single and READY TO MINGLE!

 

You are such a great lovable guy!!! I was glad to meet you on the North East Trip and think you are a fun ball of energy. You will most definitely find someone and I am sure he will be happy to call you his.

[Moose]

Happy National Coming Out Day!

 

Anyone care to tell their story? Or if you're like me, one of their stories since I didn't come out all at once.

 

The most meaningful and scariest for me was my father. I had already told my mother and sister (on separate occasions) but still needed to tell my dad. I wanted it to be special so I waited until we were sailing back from Martha's Vineyard and stopping for the night at one of my favorite places on Earth: Cuttyhunk. It's an island of sand and rock that is still fairly remote, no hotels, two ferries a day, very few actuall cars. In retrospect it was a very risky location. If things had t gone well we would have been forced to be together no matter what. But things didn't go badly. At sunset, I told him and he was absolutely touched that I chose to do it there.

[jmicha]

I came out to my friends at the start of college. I decided that it was time to be honest with them. They all said they already knew. Everyone I wasn't close with were surprised but nobody took it badly. I came out to my family about a year later. They drove down one weekend to visit me at school and when we were at lunch I told them. There was that immediate moment of awkward silence but then my dad asked, "Are you happy?" And when I replied "yes" he said, "Good, because that's all that matters." Things just went on exactly as they had been and nothing has changed. After getting it over with I wished I had done it sooner. My brothers (one older, one younger. Both VERY straight) said they kind of expected it. My mom said she noticed signs when I was like 3 or 4 lol. So I guess it wasn't at all a surprise. It was a huge weight off my shoulders though, that's for sure.

[alilstronger]

I came out to my mom first. We were so close at the time and we shared everything with one another. Honestly, I felt the need to come out because I was already dating my first boyfriend at the time and I felt like I was lying to everyone especially her even though no one knew about him. I gently ask her to sit down and ask her if she would always love me. I then proceeded to tell her that I was dating someone I met at the library (I went there every day after school at the time) and she was actually a he.

 

After the initial shock and her worrying about taking me to a specialist so I can be fixed and/or she did something wrong raising me she came to terms with it. It was hard for her at first to see me around another man in a relationship manner. Over time she has come full circle and jokes about it now actually. I have always tried to fully engage her in my life. She has now went to 2 Baltimore pride festivals with me and enjoyed every minute of it. Her first year she was more or less less just observing but now she loves it and talks about going back next year already even though it is not until June. Her favorite part is the drag shows and tells me all the time I should do it because she would be so proud to see me up on the stage.

[Moose]

^ I don't think i could ever take my mom to pride... but then again, I haven't been to pride in years. Pat of that is I tend to be on Awesome TPR trips in June

[funkeymon]

Mine was really awkward..

Basically what happened was this. Me and my dad were sitting on our couch and talking. He then brought up the subject of sexuality because apparently, my guidance counselor told him. He then asked if I was and I simply said yes. He then asked how I knew and I told him. He told me not to corner myself like this and I told him that it is what I want. He then told me not to go off and make gay stripper porn. Yeah...

[coasterfreak101]

I mean, as a parent, I would be concerned if my child was headed off to make gay stripper porn.

[MidtownCoaster]

Start talking about porn, and the conversation dies...