Why does one "admit" to being gay?

[TimeChaser]

"Admit" just always seems like a negative word. :shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. It really is. Like one has been deliberately lying all the time

about not being gay - which, in a lot of instances is true, but in most of the instances I know the lies were deliberate so that the person wouldn't get killed and/or beat severely or otherwise treated inhumanely.

We need a better word that denotes the person is doing something courageous and honorable. Perhaps "Proclaims" or "announces" (though that one is kind of funny, too) or some such.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Declare, or assert perhaps...

"Come out" works in a less formal setting.

[eyesroll]

2. I think if you hid and denied something for years, then "admit" makes

sense...but in general, I think a better word is "acknowledge."

[everythingsxen]

3. Because....

Gay people are expected to walk around wearing rainbow coats with pink triangles sewn on the arms. :sarcasm:

[terrya]

4. That's a very good question.

It's always framed in terms of hiding this evil secret. Even "being open about it" somehow conjures images of sinister happenings.

God, it's not being gay should be equated with being an axe murderer or something.

[WCGreen]

5. Because if they admit to being gay....

They ge all the wonderful prizes behind door number 1....

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. After I convert 50, I get this...

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

10. geez you're behind...after I get one more I get to upgrade to

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

11. Well, we already have one in the basement.

[tjwmason]

13. You just want the footballer don't you?

He looks very good at playing with balls too. :evilgrin:

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

19. I'd take one of each...

and are you talking from expereince? :evilgrin:

[WCGreen]

24. I've driven a few women to the other side....

I should get an appliance store...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

40. It doesn't count.

Only gay people can earn appliances. We get the toasters for winning the people you push over.

[Richard Steele]

8. Because "STRAIGHT" people define linguistic definitions and framing.

[idgiehkt]

9. I just wish people would only do it once.

But Lance Bass will be 'admittedly gay' from here on out. I personally would rather people stay in the closet, if it is someone I really like, than have to hear them referred to as 'admittely gay' for the rest of my and their lives.

[6000eliot]

12. It's "openly gay"

and I don't see why it's a problem. Straight people don't have to "admit" anything, because people just assume you're straight unless you say otherwise.

[idgiehkt]

25. I've heard both, and actually, it's just 'gay'.

Both adjectives are unnecessary because both imply that it is something that should be concealed.

[6000eliot]

27. I wish that were true,

but my experience is that coming out is something you have to do over and over again.

[idgiehkt]

31. I see your point but I'm referring to the press specifically.

I hate seeing those adjectives in the press because of what they imply.

[txwhitedove]

14. Oh good grief. I've had to "admit" in DU that I'm STRAIGHT!!!!

But only cause somebody keeps asking these questions.
Somebody out there is curious about everybody else's sex habits.

:spray:

[TimeChaser]

16. It's not the fact that one's stating their sexuality that I wonder about.

It's the choice of words. Why "admit?" It sounds negative

[txwhitedove]

18. Is it the reporter/article's wording or the actual gay person's words?

By definition 'admit' is not a negative, but is:
to concede as true; acknowledge.

All the talk just reminds my of my ex (pthuey!) who
thought out loud that everyone was gay. Who cares?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

29. Did he go "gay-spotting?"

My friends and I used to do that at the mall.

[txwhitedove]

33. No, more like his gaydar was stuck on but seriously out of whack...

and he blurted stuff out loud all the time about people we knew,
people passed on the street, during otherwise intelligent conversations...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

35. Yeah, we were more like just sitting on a mall bench and...

quietly debating people's sexual orientation. Not random, loud outbursts at all.

[txwhitedove]

36. That's different. He was just creepy. He got upset once because

he seriously thought my daughter was dating/kissing a black guy (another issue),
and wouldn't listen to anyone tell him it was all in his head, they were just friends.
The boy was a great h.s. football player, and gay. I was sworn to secrecy by the kids.
What a joke on my ex!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

39. My grandmother (mom's side) once told one of my cousin's...

on my dad's side (liberal side), that he shouldn't go out in the sun, because he was a good-looking guy, but when he got tan, he looked black. Yeah, Sean is half Irish, but his mom is half Native American and half black. Of course, since he works as a stand-up comic, he does a whole routine that since he's 1/2 Irish, 1/4 black, and 1/4 Native American, essentially everyone hates him for one reason or another.

[txwhitedove]

42. Yep, my grandma was like that. Grandpa was 1/4 Cherokee, but

we didn't talk about it around her. I'm 1/16th Cherokee. She didn't like for me
to spend all summer at the pool because "you look like a little Mexican!"
She was a great lady, but a racist. Takes too much time and energy to hate like that.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. Because that's how straight people often think of it.

Personally, at this point, I just act as if everyone knows and live my life accordingly. I don't necessarily inform people I meet, but rather they'll either piece it together themselves or when it gets mentioned in regular conversation.

[begin_within]

17. Because otherwise, No Admittance.

[Placebo]

20. Because it's the first step on the road to this...

[dpbrown]

21. I admit I like girls

Well, it's the least I can do under the circumstances.


:shrug:

[Dear Bastards]

22. because one is gay, most like

[skygazer]

23. It's pretty sad that society defines one by their sexual preference

Just as they do their race. How often do you see in a newspaper that a person is described as a "young Black male" or a "Hispanic female". Do you ever see anyone described as a "white male?" Not very often. And most of the time, that qualifier has nothing to do with the story - it would be one thing if they were describing a missing person or someone who was wanted, but often it's just there. As if it matters.

Same with people's sexual orientation. No one is ever described as "the openly straight comedian" or hits the headlines by "proclaiming they are straight."

I always have to scratch my head when I hear people talk about how being gay is a choice - yeah, sure, people always choose to be something that will potentially get them ridiculed, discriminated against and possibly injured or killed. :eyes:

Unless human beings can get it through their narrow little minds that we're all the same under the surface, and all in the same boat, we'll never survive as a species. Sometimes, I have so little hope for us. ~sigh~

[ikojo]

30. In almost all articles about a female politician

or head of state there is always a reference to what she is wearing. I don't recall the same being done to men.

[Mojambo]

26. Oh come on.

You can admit to being happy or sad or anything, really.

Admit isn't a negative word.

Maybe he should have acknowledged that he was gay?

[pitohui]

28. to gain publicity for one's dead end career EOM

b

[TimeChaser]

32. It seems I didn't make the OP clear enough

I was wondering about the choice of language used.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

34. I admit NOTHING!

[NMMNG]

37. Because

hateful people make some hide the fact that they're gay, and when pressed they then "admit" it like it's a crime or something.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

38. While a good question, your getting GD in my Lounge

:)

[bertha katzenengel]

41. When you are "accused" of being gay, then stating that you ARE comes

across to THEM as an admission.

They're the ones who think they're making an accusation. All I ever want to say is, "Duh."

Admission is in the eye of the beholder, IMO.

[MissMarple]

43. I dunno, I don't walk around telling people I'm hetero.

Way too much information in my most humble opinion.