hobbies that are typically not gay friendly

bitburger

this is a strange one folks, the title is a little cheeky i know,

im in a situation at the minute where i have a particular hobby with a smaller community in ireland.

some people in this community know and whilst they were very surprised about it didnt really care at all,i have a feeling after a drunken conversation with somebody this weekend im about to be outed and i dont really know how to feel about this since the scene im a part of dates back to the 60's and there was a racist element at times (though a big minority)

although a handful of people on this scene have found out over the past year and are actually very supportive and have made it very clear they will stand behind me if anybody has issues with me over this im still a little worried, though on thinking about it i can count on my 2 hands the people i think will have issue and my friends have reassured me nobody will give a toss.


whilst im just venting on the situation and am not actually looking for advice for once i would like to hear some similar situations if any exist, particularly stuff that would be typical lad stuff, car clubs, motorbikes, sports clubs, etc if its got a stupid typically straight image i wanna hear about it,

actually i read the thread about gay musicians singing straight songs and learning that the lead of judas priest was gay actuallly put my mind at ease a little :pac: that would be a perfect example for me

Annasopra

I'm not sure I understand really

Daith

What? The only difference in being gay is that you are attracted to people of the same sex. Do whatever you want to do.

Davyhal

Would make an awful lot more sense to understand where you are coming from if you say what kind of hobby - ie. sport, music, political, charity work, etc.

Dhampir

Well I came out in a very small community. I was on the local GAA team and involved in the community a lot. Everyone knew me as I worked in the local shop and I was always friendly to everyone. My parents also had a high profile in the community. My mother was the local school secretary and on the parish council and local youth clubs. My father involved in the GAA too. To be honest my home town is full of gossips. That's what they live off. The neighbour would know before me what I'd done the night before out drinking, things like that. To be honest my fellow team mates never seemed to have a problem with it. If they did they hid it very well. When it came to walking down town with the other half we would get looks and rumours did fly around about me being with my friends but as I found out after it was always from some jealous, gossip driven person who had nothing better to do with their time. Might I add they have never left my home town and still live in that small bubble of rural gossip. So yes you already know yourself you'll have a couple of people who will use it to spread gossip. But you're friends and anyone who matters won't care. Not in this day and age. And even high profile sports players who have come out recently have helped, even though I've never had an issue with it when I was on sports teams. It also helps not to make a big deal of it. Cause it's not. It doesn't matter who you fall for, male or female. I don't really agree with labels anyway, gay, straight etc. But society unfortunately uses them.

azezil

*reads thread topic* *reads content*

If you're referring to GAA and the like, despite popular belief gay people do play sports too, like cars, motor bikes etc.
Sounds to me like you're confusing media portrayed stereotypes with reality

Hunchback

I understand. The anxiety that you feel drives you to seek out others that may have had experiences similar to yours, whereby they are engaged in a hobby that might be, rightly or wrongly, perceived as possibly a difficult environment for a gay man to be openly gay and thrive in. It is only natural to want to discuss this issue with others.

Some may say 'but it doesn't matter who you love' and 'it's not really an issue anymore anyway', and of course, whilst this is true, I gather you wish to hear from people who shared the same perception as you.

I just wanted to say 'I geddit'. Unfortunately I'm of no use to you because my hobbies are tennis, writing music and movies, so the macho culture ain't a problem here

Soldering_Iorn

What's the hobby OP?

bitburger

like i said in my OP, judging on the people that have found out so far there is nothing for me to get worried about except a handful of auld fashioned farts, nontheless theres worries there, for those asking im in a type of motorbike club, I attend plenty of rallys and the like

probabaly just me wildly sterotyping like in my other thread :pac:

Dick Turnip

I play gaelic football for a team. I play 5 a side soccer with mates. I drink pints of guinness for fun at weekends. I ride women.

No, wait......scratch that last one.

The rest are true though.

playedalive

Dhampir wrote: »

Well I came out in a very small community. I was on the local GAA team and involved in the community a lot. Everyone knew me as I worked in the local shop and I was always friendly to everyone. My parents also had a high profile in the community. My mother was the local school secretary and on the parish council and local youth clubs. My father involved in the GAA too. To be honest my home town is full of gossips. That's what they live off. The neighbour would know before me what I'd done the night before out drinking, things like that. To be honest my fellow team mates never seemed to have a problem with it. If they did they hid it very well. When it came to walking down town with the other half we would get looks and rumours did fly around about me being with my friends but as I found out after it was always from some jealous, gossip driven person who had nothing better to do with their time. Might I add they have never left my home town and still live in that small bubble of rural gossip. So yes you already know yourself you'll have a couple of people who will use it to spread gossip. But you're friends and anyone who matters won't care. Not in this day and age. And even high profile sports players who have come out recently have helped, even though I've never had an issue with it when I was on sports teams. It also helps not to make a big deal of it. Cause it's not. It doesn't matter who you fall for, male or female. I don't really agree with labels anyway, gay, straight etc. But society unfortunately uses them.

Thank you for sharing your post. You'll always get gossips that want to know your business. Hell, I live in Dublin (in a suburb) and they're everywhere. Because I'm not in a relationship or seen to be with someone, you'll always get people trying to "feel you out if you're gay".

I second you on the labels. I hate them. Not just with sexuality but in general. I have been considered a weird child so many times for not "fitting in":rolleyes:. For me, I find my sexuality very difficult to define. I can like all types of people in platonic, romantic and sexual ways. But, sometimes society doesn't like that. I'm either considered lying to myself or greedy for not being in a narrow definition.

Now, this leads to my actual contribution OP :P. I don't really believe in gay friendly hobbies. Like every hobby, there's always a certain mentality. For example, rugby is very popular where I live. There is a macho mentality, obviously. We're rugby players, who have our pick of the birds, who are out in blah blah. But that's just BS. Not all people are like that. People can be more open minded than you think (Trust me).