The Epidemic of Gay Loneliness
Mar 16, 2017, 6:07 pm
#16
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
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Posts: 1,295
I wonder if some of you have read the article?
I think the point of the article is the damage done by being in the closet. And this exemplifies the point. From a young man from a loving, accepting family.
"James remembers the exact moment he decided to go into the closet. He must have been 10 or 11, dragged on a vacation to Long Island by his parents. “I looked around at our whole family, and the kids running around, and I thought, ‘I’m never going to have this,’ and I started to cry.”
I have friends of many different generations and they all have a story like this.
"James remembers the exact moment he decided to go into the closet. He must have been 10 or 11, dragged on a vacation to Long Island by his parents. “I looked around at our whole family, and the kids running around, and I thought, ‘I’m never going to have this,’ and I started to cry.”
I have friends of many different generations and they all have a story like this.
Mar 17, 2017, 9:52 am
#17
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: France
Posts: 971
To me the loneliness comes from seeing your friends build their family, being busy with their kids, and not having so much time for you anymore. I guess if I had kids the gap between my life and my friends' / colleagues' would not be such a big deal.
Mar 19, 2017, 2:27 am
#18
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 2,400
I could not relate to any of that article. Maybe it is because I am kind of a loner at heart, and enjoy being alone. I am in my 50's, and occasionally I get a twinge of regret when I see my friends with their grandkids, but then I jet off for my 10th weekend somewhere warm, meet new people, and think, nope, I love my life.
Growing up in a small town, I was in the closet until I was about 30 (or thought I was in the closet, sometimes that closet has a glass door). Don't regret it for a second (well maybe a bit, miss the hookups I could have had in my prime :-P ), it made me who I am now. I went through the drug thing, and alcohol thing, but do not attribute it to being gay, but to many other things.
As for being judged? Again, I really don't care. Straight people are going to judge me, gay people are going to judge me, attractive people will, ugly people will, just a part of life. I am happy with who I am, comfortable with the choices I have made, and make the best of the cards I was dealt.
Lol, most of my friends are straight, and boy there are some depressed and lonely straight folk out there too.
Growing up in a small town, I was in the closet until I was about 30 (or thought I was in the closet, sometimes that closet has a glass door). Don't regret it for a second (well maybe a bit, miss the hookups I could have had in my prime :-P ), it made me who I am now. I went through the drug thing, and alcohol thing, but do not attribute it to being gay, but to many other things.
As for being judged? Again, I really don't care. Straight people are going to judge me, gay people are going to judge me, attractive people will, ugly people will, just a part of life. I am happy with who I am, comfortable with the choices I have made, and make the best of the cards I was dealt.
Lol, most of my friends are straight, and boy there are some depressed and lonely straight folk out there too.
Mar 21, 2017, 11:40 am
#19
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Join Date: Sep 2006
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Posts: 13,485
Wow, thank you for such a great post!
The two areas I bolded I especially identify with:
* I have several brothers/sisters with kids. When we were jetting off to Europe for a 2 week vacation, I'd hear some rumblings, and may still occasionally hear them. In the past year my foreign trips have included Rio, Saigon, Beijing, and Bangkok. It is definitely nice to visit with family and see all of my nieces and nephews, but always nice to leave.
* There's just as much straight judging going on. For anyone interested, check out the Match.com thread over in Omni. The whole thread makes for a good read if you've never seen it, or just browse through the last few pages.
I could not relate to any of that article. Maybe it is because I am kind of a loner at heart, and enjoy being alone. I am in my 50's, and occasionally I get a twinge of regret when I see my friends with their grandkids, but then I jet off for my 10th weekend somewhere warm, meet new people, and think, nope, I love my life.
Growing up in a small town, I was in the closet until I was about 30 (or thought I was in the closet, sometimes that closet has a glass door). Don't regret it for a second (well maybe a bit, miss the hookups I could have had in my prime :-P ), it made me who I am now. I went through the drug thing, and alcohol thing, but do not attribute it to being gay, but to many other things.
As for being judged? Again, I really don't care. Straight people are going to judge me, gay people are going to judge me, attractive people will, ugly people will, just a part of life. I am happy with who I am, comfortable with the choices I have made, and make the best of the cards I was dealt.
Lol, most of my friends are straight, and boy there are some depressed and lonely straight folk out there too.
Growing up in a small town, I was in the closet until I was about 30 (or thought I was in the closet, sometimes that closet has a glass door). Don't regret it for a second (well maybe a bit, miss the hookups I could have had in my prime :-P ), it made me who I am now. I went through the drug thing, and alcohol thing, but do not attribute it to being gay, but to many other things.
As for being judged? Again, I really don't care. Straight people are going to judge me, gay people are going to judge me, attractive people will, ugly people will, just a part of life. I am happy with who I am, comfortable with the choices I have made, and make the best of the cards I was dealt.
Lol, most of my friends are straight, and boy there are some depressed and lonely straight folk out there too.
* I have several brothers/sisters with kids. When we were jetting off to Europe for a 2 week vacation, I'd hear some rumblings, and may still occasionally hear them. In the past year my foreign trips have included Rio, Saigon, Beijing, and Bangkok. It is definitely nice to visit with family and see all of my nieces and nephews, but always nice to leave.
* There's just as much straight judging going on. For anyone interested, check out the Match.com thread over in Omni. The whole thread makes for a good read if you've never seen it, or just browse through the last few pages.
Mar 21, 2017, 3:31 pm
#20
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 3
I could not relate to any of that article. Maybe it is because I am kind of a loner at heart, and enjoy being alone. I am in my 50's, and occasionally I get a twinge of regret when I see my friends with their grandkids, but then I jet off for my 10th weekend somewhere warm, meet new people, and think, nope, I love my life.
Growing up in a small town, I was in the closet until I was about 30 (or thought I was in the closet, sometimes that closet has a glass door). Don't regret it for a second (well maybe a bit, miss the hookups I could have had in my prime :-P ), it made me who I am now. I went through the drug thing, and alcohol thing, but do not attribute it to being gay, but to many other things.
As for being judged? Again, I really don't care. Straight people are going to judge me, gay people are going to judge me, attractive people will, ugly people will, just a part of life. I am happy with who I am, comfortable with the choices I have made, and make the best of the cards I was dealt.
Lol, most of my friends are straight, and boy there are some depressed and lonely straight folk out there too.
Growing up in a small town, I was in the closet until I was about 30 (or thought I was in the closet, sometimes that closet has a glass door). Don't regret it for a second (well maybe a bit, miss the hookups I could have had in my prime :-P ), it made me who I am now. I went through the drug thing, and alcohol thing, but do not attribute it to being gay, but to many other things.
As for being judged? Again, I really don't care. Straight people are going to judge me, gay people are going to judge me, attractive people will, ugly people will, just a part of life. I am happy with who I am, comfortable with the choices I have made, and make the best of the cards I was dealt.
Lol, most of my friends are straight, and boy there are some depressed and lonely straight folk out there too.