I think there’s probably a mix to be honest, but other than having gay friends and training partners I don’t have the best insight into the gay mind. I had a gay roommate I didn’t know was gay until the first time my girlfriend came over. Somehow she picked up on it in seconds while I was oblivious for weeks.
I do think some people adopt a gay identity for social reasons rather than sexual impulses. I can think of a few people I know who I suspect fit this bill. One’s a gal who is married to a man and has not, to my knowledge, ever dated a female but she makes a HUGE DEAL out of being “pansexual”, which means whatever she says it does. It ties in with all of her other victim-status posting, imploring everyone to be considerate in very specific ways of people with her entire spectrum of things she wants you to be considerate of.
I have a friend, who was a jock-of-jock type and still kind of is, who came out as both gay and trans in a span of a few months. Most of us were perfectly tolerant of it, even if it was a really big surprise. Okay, same person we always trained with, but in a spaghetti-strap top and painted nails. A little odd, but that’s fine. Let’s train.
Back to the topic of this thread (sort-of), what I found curious is the celebrity treatment he got after coming out. Being trans wasn’t just something that should be tolerated, but celebrated. Feted, even. Not unlike BLM. Not unlike BLM at all. In fact, even criticizing something as radical as Canada’s bill C-16 makes you a transphobe. Trans, like black people, are immune to criticism.
It is the same kind of social-media and real-life high-fiving I see that I believe drives a lot of the behavior on the left today, which I’d go ahead and lump in being “fake gay” with. More importantly, it is the fear of consequences that prevents people from being openly critical of otherwise nonsense policies that produce tragic outcomes. Being “fake gay” isn’t one of those, in my opinion, but the thought process seems to fit in with other behavior I see, specifically the celebration of victim status.
It is this phenomenon that I believe prevents otherwise rational people from un-tangling their feelings of empathy and good-will towards others with the actual outcomes of the policies they end up supporting. This is why upper-middle class white liberals are so eager to self-flagellate and signal their celebration of the cause, be it gay, trans, black, or whatever other intersectional characteristic they’re honing in on. They can do this, call themselves “allies”, get a lot of high fives and risk absolutely nothing. It’s not my sister-in-law’s house that will be looted and set ablaze, after all. It is not her children that will have to go to the schools that haven’t had a conservative on the board for generations.
You will be met with nothing but acclaim and support for signalling that you have the correct position. If you disagree, however, it is no longer a policy difference. It is time for character judgement, and that’s where we’re at today. This is a major problem, and why I’ve written about the assumption of good faith and it’s importance.
Back to the gays, real or fake? question, I think most are real, but a small percentage are doing it because of the social benefit in their social circles. The social benefits exist because of the celebration of victimhood that is part of our culture now.
