Is there such a thing as too gay?

[shekina]

Take Ian McKellen and Elton John for example. They're openly gay, yet they don't rub it in everyone's face and make a big deal out of it. On the other hand, you got Rosie O'Donnell who makes such a huge deal out of it that it's a turn off. So, is there such a thing as "too gay"?

[Jack_Dawson]

1. Gandalf is Gay?

Edited to spell G correctly.

[shekina]

4. Oh yes

Yes he is, but he doesn't rub it in people's faces.



BTW, it's spelled Gandalf.

[Jack_Dawson]

15. Seriously?

He doesn't seem it. Then again he did have some good chemistry with all the hobbits.

[Bertha Venation]

42. Yes. Ian McKellan is gay. eom

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

68. How do you know?

About the rubbing in people's faces. Sorry it was

TOO EASY

[FunBobbyMucha]

48. Gandalf is all about the pole.

And he was really cool about it on RealTime a few weeks ago. He'd be my Sugar Daddy if I had to switch.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. I think so

Gay people are just like everyone else. Just normal people. I don't need to hear about it every 5 minutes and the people who insist on telling us are merely zealots. And I have no use for any kind of zealot.

[pagerbear]

39. What about assimilationist zealots?

[shekina]

41. what's an assimiliation zealot?

eom

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

43. You mean Pat Robertson?

Yeah, I don't have any use for him either.

[shekina]

45. ditto

Pat Robertson sucks

[Dufaeth]

3. Yea and 50 cent is too black. WTF?

eom

[Bertha Venation]

44. That is the perfect response to this nonsense question.

Well done.

[pagerbear]

5. Too gay for what?

What do you mean by "rubbing it in everyone's face"? Living life proudly and openly, without shame? Being as affectionate in public with one's partner as a straight man or woman would be with a partner? Demanding the same rights that straight men and women are entitled to?

One wonders why these things make you uncomfortable.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

11. No, that's not it at all

I don't care about someone living their lives normally. I do get bothered by someone who feels the need to get on TV every day and tell me that they're gay. I know Rosie is gay. That's fantastic, good for her. I'm glad she had the courage to do it initially. I don't need to hear her re-affirmation every day though.

[pagerbear]

17. I must be missing something

I know I'm totally out of the loop with popular culture (and I thank God daily for that) but does Rosie or anyone else announce her/his sexual orientation publicly every day? Or are those people making public statements about issues that affect gay people?

[Blue-Jay]

21. Stop rubbing it in my face, Pager!

I shaved earlier, and all that damn rubbing is making me chafe.

[pagerbear]

You haven't seen rubbing yet, Blue-Jay!

[Blue-Jay]

31. I'm sure I haven't!

Too bad you're a guy, my friend. :D You got any sisters like you at home?

[ALago1]

6. Well

If you are complaining of people being "too gay" b/c they are letting their voice be heard in regard to advocacy of gay rights, then no I don't think one can be "too gay" in demanding basic civil liberties. This is what Rosie O'Donnell seems to do and I don't really mind.

However, if you are just hanging out with some friends and every few minutes someone says "Hey I'm gay!" it could be a little tiresome, but then again who cares?

Just my opinion...

[freetobegay]

7. Is there such a thing as too Heterosexual?

[supernova]

9. Ha. Good point!

:thumbsup:

[AntiCoup2K4]

24. Uh... Toby Keith, maybe?

Or is he just acting too hetero? ;)

(yeah I know it's an insult to gays, but start the rumor and see how fast Fear Channel pulls his "music" )

[TXlib]

25. I interpret "Too heterosexual" as meaning the person in question is a pig.

i.e. -- hitting on any woman nearby.

I suppose I'd interpret "Too gay" the same.

However, both terms seem rather politically charged, so I'd prefer to state what I really mean, and not risk offending for the sake of using a clever turn of phrase.

[sniffa]

8. too gay

shoving the gay agenda down your throat Like jeb bush with a feeding tube.

i think peopLe are too straight... and waaaayyyy too white.

[pagerbear]

10. The gay agenda?

What is the gay agenda?

[sniffa]

16. the gay agenda

http://cronus.com/agenda/

[pagerbear]

27. LOL! Thanks for the link!

[Touchdown]

58. Is this guy too gay?

If so, then sign me up! LOL!

[cboy4]

70. Yum! hehehe :-)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. i support the homosexual agenda

cos i love the fags and make love to the dykes!

[sniffa]

35. woot

:D

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. Is there such a thing as too pregnant, too black or too human?

What you are basically saying is that Elton John's expression of his sexuality is acceptable to you and Rosie's isn't. It has more to do with your impressions and value judgements than with Elton and Rosie.

There is a thing as too straight though and all the women that I want to date at DU are too straight :evilgrin:

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. Bingo! I don't have to say it now. You took the words right out

of my mouth.


Although, on edit, I think there is such a thing as too pregnant. ;) I've been there. heheheeh

[Karenina]

65. Trotzdem...

Ich hab' Dich LIEB für immer und ewig!!! :loveya:

[rock]

13. No. But there is such a thing as obnoxious

You don't have to be gay to be obnoxious.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

22. my point exactly

zealots=obnoxious.

[Gildor Inglorion]

14. In a word..."No"

but there is such a thing as "not gay enough." I know several closeted married men and/or Republicans who spend their lives in abject terror of being found out. That's a bunch of crap.

[m-jean03]

18. Oh. for god's sakes.

:eyes:

Just let everyone /be/. Not everyone will act how you want them to. I think the heterosexual agenda is rubbed in everybody's face CONSTANTLY and gay people pretty much ignored or kept on the sidelines. All any gay person is saying is, "hey, we're here we're queer, get used to it." Some more loudly than others. Just like some people make a big deal out of their hobbies, their pets, whatever they like and identify with. So what?

[AntiCoup2K4]

19. Using your own definition, how could Elton John NOT be "too gay"

The flamboyant outfits, the ridiculous sunglasses, referring to himself as the "Queen of England". Wouldn't these things fit the very definition of what you describe as "too gay"??

And as for IanMcKellen, I seem to recall seeing a video clip of a speech he gave somewhere in Hollywood (I think) where he pleaded with all gay actors to come out of the closet. Wouldn't that be similar to what you seem to be objecting to Rosie O'Donnell doing?

EDIT: for the record, I equate "too gay" with "too Black", "too Jewish" and "too Liberal". And I'm neither gay, Black, or Jewish myself. But proudly Liberal, of course :)

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

32. I think the term "too gay" was poor choice of words

However, I understood the point, as I'm sure you do too.

Let's recap:
Elton John is very flamboyant. If that's how he wants to be - more power to him.

Ian McKellan made out with his boyfriend on national television. Fine by me too. I'm only jealous that I currently don't have a significant other that I can do that with at the moment.

Rosie O'Donnell yelling and screaming daily, not fine by me. I heard her the first 100 times, I get the point.

To look at the flip side:

Ben Affleck and J Lo making out is something I'm sure most gay people put up with just fine.

I'm sure most gay people can accept Clint Eastwood's "manliness" or Renee Zellweger's "femininity".

Someone like Pat Robertson screaming about how heterosexuality=holiness is something I'm quite certain most people, gay or straight, can do without.

I don't want to deal with zealots. Period. Religious zealots, sexual zealots, sports zealots, ALL zealots - they need a nap. Understand now?

[shekina]

34. Ur right

I probably should have worded it a little differently, sorry if I offended anybody. But yes, Rosie became very annoying the first 100 times she came out of the closet. And I really don't know how the gay community felt about Bennifer, but they annoyed the hell out of me almost as much as Rosie.

[playahata1]

72. In dress, at least,

Elton has toned things down considerably over the years. At any rate, I don't think he makes too big a deal out of it; for 30 years the whole damn world has known he is gay.

[OneBlueSky]

20. sorry, but that's a really stupid question . . .

the flip side would be "Is there such a thing as too straight?" . . . would that make any sense? . . . I don't think so . . . if everyone would just accept people for who they are, we'd all be a lot better off . . .

[rbnyc]

23. No, but I think there's a such thing as too intolerant.

Different people present themselves differently. Some of them are going to bother you and turn you off, but that's actually not their problem. And LGBT people have a lot of reason to make "a big deal out of it", not having equal rights and facing huge amounts of bigotry every day and all.

[dsc]

26. Of course there is

I mean Rosie just screamed her whole life about being gay. Oh wait, no she didn't. She was in the closet for over 20 years. She has given one, count it one, interview on TV about the wedding. But it must be those pant suits.

[Blue-Jay]

Well....she was "officially" in the closet, but everyone knew.

How many people were shocked by her "coming out" revelation? Same goes with Ellen and Melissa Etheridge.

"She's gay?!?! The HELL, you say!"

</wishes that Melissa would "rub it in my face". rowr>

[AntiCoup2K4]

37. Or Rob Halford & Freddie Mercury.

I was amazed to find so many metalheads in shock when Halford came out (as if he was ever in?)

"that dude from Judas Priest is a FAG?? No fuckin way!! Shit, now I gotta get rid of my Priest albums before I turn gay or something :scared: "

[shekina]

40. I was surprised about Freddie Mercury

He died before I was born, but I liked Queen for awhile before I found out he was gay. When I found out, I was like "Dude, how could the guy who wrote Fat Bottom Girls be gay?" Oh well, I got over it.

[foreigncorrespondent]

52. When did Rosie come out?

She was actually "outed".

[dsc]

53. probably some of each

If I recall correctly some scandal sheet published the story about her but they have done that about others. She decided to confirm it. It has admittedly been awhile but that is what I recall. If it was a more legitimate or better sourced story then I take that back.

[foreigncorrespondent]

54. I remember we talked about it...

...here on DU. Or rather the old DU, maybe I will go over there and see if I can drag it up.

[Bridget Burke]

28. Could it be that Rosie is just annoying?

If it wasn't her "gayness" she'd find some other way to be irritating. Like some lady who goes on & on about her dear hubby. I've never watched her show much, so I can't be sure.

Some of the guys on "Queer Eye" play up their gayness quite a bit, but I find them amusing. They're just being silly--and actually helping out some guys who need it.

[pagerbear]

36. WRT Queer Eye

...I have mixed feelings about it, even while finding the show itself amusing. On the one hand, there is the point Barney Frank brought up about having yet more "pet" homosexuals, different enough from the supposed norm to be safely "other", put on parade to entertain us. On the other hand, it's blatant product placement (what, you thought they were drinking Pepsi out of the bottle because they all love it so?) and shallow entertainment for its own sake--and often fun.

Although we could always use more, there really are quite a few gay people on TV. Of all different stripes. I like diversity in entertainment and politics. Every cause has both in-your-face types and behind-the-scenes types and lots of folks in between. I think that's cool.

[Zookeeper]

46. I think you're right about Rosie..

I want to say "Hooray, she's gay and she's out!" but I find her so annoying...about everything.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. no there is not

theres such a thing as "too heterosexual" and homophobic though!

[LiberalManiacfromOC]

38. I believe you can be too proud but not too gay.

The reason they are zealots is because we have homophobic assholes like bush in our country and these gay people want to say "We're gay; Get Used To It!"

[slinkerwink]

47. Am I too deaf? too femme? too black? too chinese? too american?

[Neecy]

49. do you wear a wedding ring...

...or have photos of your spouse/children on display in your home or office? Do you talk about your spouse or children with your friends?

If so, please stop rubbing your heterosexuality in my face. There's such a thing as being 'too straight', you know.

Heterosexuals proclaim their heterosexuality in dozens of ways daily to the general public. If Rosie or anyone else is a 'zealot' for occasionally bringing up their sexuality, what does it make the rest of you?

[Deja Q]

50. Only if gays take over the world and impose our values onto you.

Which won't happen, we value tolerance and respect toward all except our oppressors. (of course, the log cabin idiots are sleeping with the oppressors, which proves once again that nobody's perfect...)

[foreigncorrespondent]

51. Can you please explain...

...what you mean by Rosie O'Donnell being "too in your face" about her lesbianism?

On edit: typo

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

55. It does conjure up images doesn't it?

:evilgrin: Not that I would want Rosie in my face

[foreigncorrespondent]

56. LOL

Neither would I, NSMA, neither would I. ;)

[Neecy]

57. heh...nor would I

But I will say that I had a bizarre encounter with Rosie about 8 years ago when she was officially still in the closet, and I have a lot of sympathy and support for her now. I think she used to live in terror that she'd be outed and lose everything (her show was very successful at the time) and she was clearly conflicted about playing a heterosexual on television, even though the truth was pretty widely known in the gay community.

So, to those who think she's "too gay", try and imagine what she's gone through and lighten up. I'm surprised she isn't screaming it from the rooftops daily after spending so long in a very public closet.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

59. I'm just more pissed about her kissing Bush's ass after 9/11

and bringing out the gun fanatics when she railed against them while simultaneously seeking armed guards for herself...that sort of stuff is no great help to actual causes since on its face it appears hypocritical.

[Neecy]

60. those are valid issues

And totally unrelated to her being 'too gay' and 'turning off' the straight population because of it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

61. Well is a straight woman isn't turned off by her

how straight can she be? :evilgrin:

Hell I'm gay and I'm turned off by her...it ain't like it's causing an identity crisis for me :D

[Neecy]

62. or...

How straight can someone be if there's a threshold of gayness allowed before allowing oneself to be 'turned on'...

I'm not wild about some of her political stances either (although I'm glad she supported gay marriage in SF, which may have put her over the edge here as 'too gay') and physically she's a total turnoff for me. I'm glad our identities can survive it all :)

[Dookus]

63. Kamika?

Is that you?


Seriously.... the answer is no, you can't be too gay, but you CAN be too ignorant.

[Bertha Venation]

64. Dook, my first reaction to this post was

nah... couldn't be. My buttons aren't punched. :)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

66. mine too

[matcom]

67. what a bullshit post

rediculous

[cboy4]

69. Would you say the same thing about a holocaust

survivor who's outspoken about those who
viciously argue the holocaust never happened?

As you know, many argue homosexuality never
happened, in a sense, because they wrongly
believe it's a choice.

And frankly, people who have recently come out
of the closet like Rosie are more likely "to make a huge
deal about it" because they've had so much
frustration and sadness bottled up for such a long
time.

[DS1]

71. Kamika?

[Moderator]

73. Locking

This thread can be seen as insensitive towards gay people.