(Photo Credits: rihaij from Pixabay)
Hey, guys! What are the biggest misconceptions that people around you have about gays and the LGBT community in general? We are asking because often we would stumble upon this topic online, about how LGBT people hear assumptions or preconceived notions about themselves whenever their colleagues or friends etc. learn about their sexual orientation.
Some of these stereotypes range from amusing (for example: just because I’m gay, people think “that I can give good advice on interior decorating”) to downright dangerous.
Funny, yes, but what do we mean by the latter?
Well, one of the biggest misconceptions we’ve ever heard is that “most pedophiles are gay.” Multiple studies revealed that this claim is not true. One such study published in the journal Pediatrics showed that “in only 2 out of 269 cases, the offender was identified as being gay or lesbian” while in 82% of these cases, “the alleged offender was a heterosexual partner of a close relative of the child.”
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), stereotypes are often used to excuse discrimination against the LGBT community and these prejudices “have social and personal impact.” On social level, the samples APA cited—which are “often justified by stereotypic assumptions”—included “limitations on job opportunities, parenting, and relationship recognition.” While on personal level, APA said that the stigma against the LGBT community causes them to “conceal or deny their sexual orientation.” On the whole, APA explained that “this pattern of prejudice can have serious negative effects on health and well-being.”
All that being said, here are some of the stereotypes we’ve read online based on LGBT people’s real-life experience:
- Gay men find all men attractive or that they are interested in every guy they meet.
- That transgender people are mentally ill and therapy can “cure” them.
- There’s no such thing as male bisexuality, that it is just a phase.
- That they are gay because someone touched them when they were young.
- That people choose to be gay or transgender.
- Gay men only want sex.
- Gay men want to be a girl’s GBF (gay best friend).
- Homophobia no longer exists because we already have marriage equality.
What about you, guys? What are the misconceptions people around you have about the LGBT people and the community in general? Sound off in the comments section below!
what puzzles me ,and these are my OWN opinions, i hear ,or heard allot of men say they are ”’gay” because a uncle,relative,ect,has had sex with them as a child. now i cannot speak for them,but i had a slight,very slight occurance once by a FEMALE relative, now i see and saw that as repulsive,and rude, had it occurred again,more, i would have reported it, and IT WOULD NOT EVER HAD MADE ME ”’HETEROSEXUAL”,so why do allot of men say they are gay,turned gay, because of a relative abusing them??WOULD THAT NOT HAVE MADE THEM STRAIGHT?,”they either to me were… Read more »
Nathan Writes:
…looking at the aforementioned picture…
it is easy to see why some of the mentioned assumptions have a modicum of truth. Behind every long-standing assumption, is a modicum of truth.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and looking at some of those who inhabit that pic, it is only logical why some Heterosexuals assume much about us, and we Homosexuals assume much about them.
In Mathematics, such a condition is called a “Null.”
Being gay was determined before birth. How one acts on his/her gayness is really the issue. One can choose to remain in the closet, not have sex with anyone (but him/herself!!!) and live a life of repressed sexual desires or he/she can be true to him/herself and sexually express themselves.
“Misconceptions about gay men?” Join the club, man, nothing new here, either. You’re/we’re minorities, get-on with your life’s plans in spite of misconceptions and they will be” woke.” I wake people all the time being two minorities simultaneously. It’s funny how back in the day hetero men did, commonly, believe that gay men would have sex with ANY man at all, I ran into that a few times, “I’m picky; his appearance, his character-if any, no, nothing could be further from the truth.” I’m sure, we’ve lived-down most of these ignorance’s, and then again, we do, tend to have an… Read more »
One misconception is that we are all monolithic in our thinking, and that we are Leftist who fall in line with the garbage we’re fed by the media. Of course, it doesn’t help that anytime any of us speak differently than Leftist orthodoxy, that we get shouted down by a torrent of hate … all coming from the Left, and done in the name of “tolerance”.
Very good point. There’s a site (I’ll call it RJ for short) where pro-Trump gay men, such as myself, are routinely assumed to be “trolls” and “socks” i.e., sock puppet accounts). Pro-Trump gay men are also banned, with all of their topics and posts purged Soviet-style, by the “liberal” site management. Since I also happen to also be a Christian, I have been called just about every one of the left’s smear words, including “crazy,” “stupid,” “racist,” “homophobic,” and “self-loathing.” Just as the totalitarian left feels a need to destroy prominent black Republicans, it also feels a need to marginalize… Read more »
You’re right that vicious attacks GOP blacks & gays is uncalled for, but there is a lot of frustration at the naivete of those who support a movement that would inherently like to destroy them. The GOP operates on a fundamentally racist agenda, and the evangelical parts certainly find homosexuality abhorrent. You would not like the sort of world they would create if they had the power to do so. The only reason you don’t fear imprisonment for who you are is through actions of liberals and those who don’t take the Bible too seriously. You bite the hand that… Read more »
I think that the most offensive stereotype is that straight men molest girls and gay men molest boys. I was abused by several men starting at age 7 and nearly all of them were STRAIGHT MEN who really wanted to molest girls in my surrounding and settled for me – because a 7 year old boy was simply easier prey than a 7 year old girl. That is because there was more effort, 40 years ago, to protect girls as opposed to boys. These men settled for me because they couldn’t get to the girls. This is anecdotal but it… Read more »
You’re not alone, Bill!!!! #Walkaway
That I hate all women.
Just because I am not sexually or romantically interested in women doesn’t mean I don’t like them. I enjoy women’s company. I even look when one is attractive. I don’t desire to be one, or steal their man, or want to do their hair, nunna that BS. Chicks are alright with me. Maybe I might occasionally feel sexual arousal from one for about 3 minutes out of a year.
Common Misconception: Gay men are weak; Gay men turn the other cheek to abuse; All gay men virtue-signal so they can feel morally superior even if it means taking a beating like a weakling and doing nothing about it!
People always assume, and would love to ask…which one is the “top” and which one is the “bottom”. We are a gay married couple and some people have actually had the nerve to ask.
Why is that offensive when people run around screaming their position all the time even on sites like these. I do not think any of my friends have asked that since we were stupid teens, but I wouldn’t find it offensive. Just uninformed.
Yes, stereotypes are all based in truth, to some level. Don’t just natter about them here. Go change people’s opinions by being yourself and letting them know who you are.
All i know is im a gay male not bad looking, regular shape, still have my hair, im 50, and it seems alot of gay men want the YOUNG guy to date or whatever,,, im still single and it seems hard to meet men who want to date or get serious. It seems typical and sad.
There are out there guys looking for monogamy. Stick to it if that’s what you desire. Most of the guys I know want serious good quality men in their life, but not just one. More of a herd mentality where a group of guys know and care about each other over time.
I personally am tired of people thinking because I’m gay that 1) I’m going to act overly flamboyent & feminine, 2) want to be a drag queen, 3) I want to be trans, 4) confusing being gay with being trans. Why can’t I just be a guy who likes guys? Nothing more nothing less..
That we’re some voting block that is all liberal/democrat.
I think what’s really funny, is how Caucasians and African Americans see things differently, weather gay or straight. I get these hetero-bro’s, here in the south who know I am gay, because: my knuckles not dragging the ground, speak english correctly-good diction, somewhat on the boyish-pretty side, smooth-skinned, well-groomed. On the other hand, hetero white men have no idea that I’m gay (assuming I’m formally educated) one white guy (date) came to my door, “are you even gay?” Across the board from all groups “Do you play basketball?” Eye roll, I think most really tall men get that one, especially,… Read more »
So many stereotypes. Just cause your tall and black doesn’t automatically mean you play basketball. Just because someone is white and in a nice business suit doesn’t mean he is straight and successful. A person can be overweight and yet still be a millionaire. Why is it that doctors, lawyers, and politicians. are usually portrayed as white, and those that are needy are usually portrayed as black or from a foreign country. Many people here in America are just as needy, regardless of their race. Other words you can not tell who is gay, straight or bi, or rich, poor,… Read more »
One misconception is that being gay is only about sex. Also lots of people think all gays dislike women. Neither is true. Being gay is more than just sex. It’s about who you like, love, and care about. It’s about whom you like to associate with (a preferred lifestyle), and yes at times have sex. But sex isn’t the only thing in a gay persons life. Also gay’s don’t dislike women. I know many women, and I don’t dislike them. It’s just that I prefer to do things with men over women. For me it’s just a lot easier to… Read more »
I think a common misconception is gay men are always in your face, flamers, and take their sexuality everywhere they go.