Gay culture is actually mind bogglingly problematic in such a myriad of ways and it’s so difficult to articulate all the ways in which it is but I’m gonna make a thread to try and explain why x https://twitter.com/alex_abads/status/1198656223446474752
1) Body issues are rampant and gay men constantly subjected to idealised standards of beauty. God knows this effects so many cis gay men, let alone trans gay men, who are already made to feel uncomfortable about their bodies by wider society https://twitter.com/dreamoforgonon/status/1198692198553923585?s=21
2) The racism is just....awful, on our hook up/dating apps it’s either strange fetishisation or flat out rejection based on race. Racism is obviously a problem more pervasive than the gays but we should be so much better. Borrowed @k_y_tho tweets for this
https://twitter.com/k_y_tho/status/1196595854909595649?s=21 https://twitter.com/k_y_tho/status/1196595854909595649
https://twitter.com/k_y_tho/status/1196595854909595649?s=21 https://twitter.com/k_y_tho/status/1196595854909595649
3) Dear god the transphobia, the cis gays have really proven to be the weakest link as of late and the whole ‘LGB Alliance’ is just so shameful. Cis gay men need stop closing the door after them and stand up and show some god damn solidarity https://medium.com/@Phaylen/why-are-more-gay-men-turning-on-transgender-people-14612aa2d831
4) Age is definitely a super problematic thing in gay male circles. The way some older men fetishise younger men is beyond problematic, reflecting on personal experiences here. Moreover so much gay media tries to normalise it all the time https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-guys-reveal-the-best-part-about-being-in-an-age-gap-relationship/
5) The rise of right wing gay men. I’m sure we’ve all seen the rise of right wing (white) gay men in the media. More specifically they usually build their careers off of transphobia and overt racism. Queer assimilation?? Not even once thank you very much https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/26/ascent-lgbt-right-wing-afd
6) The assimilation of gay male culture with drinking. Definitely being tackled more on recent years but it is still an undeniable fact so many gay spaces are alcohol centred which is problematic in so many ways that one tweet simply can’t explore https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/gay-bars-alcohol-lgbt-alcoholfree-spaces
7 It can be difficult to recognise but heteronormativity is ingrained in our culture. Being masc or femme derive from Hetero expectations of romantic and sexual relations. Gay relationships centred themselves around these lots and we should be more fluid. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/the-trouble-with-making-lgbtiaq-people-live-on-heterosexuals-terms-98392
7.2) I think this a very difficult topic to grasp generally but what I want to highlight is that the way gay men perform their identities are very much reminiscent of a rigid view heteronormative view of gender and we should be less concerned with playing certain roles
8) The misogyny I mean wow. Gay men seem to have a weird cognitive lapse when it comes to their behaviour round women sometimes and it’s like....no you’re still a whole man oh my god https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/voices/gay-men-lgbt-50th-anniversary-misogyny-rupaul-drag-race-fishy-queen-lesbians-a7862516.html%3Famp
9) Apolitical gays who avoid politics or “don’t know what’s going on” are just showing their arses. Shape the fuck up, we’re needed more than ever and it might be comforting to feel like you can avoid shit but queer people are dying and I don’t care about your sensibilities x
10) Internalised homophobia is just the kicker really. So many of our problems stem from the fact we don’t like ourselves and it’s nothing short of a tragedy. I know the road to self-acceptance is a long one but dealing with it will be so important for our future as a collective
10.2) this defo isn’t meant to be a holier-than-thou tweet, I know self-acceptance and love is a difficult thing. However when we start focusing on ourselves we naturally stop focusing on how we’re perceived which is healthy for everyone https://www.rainbow-project.org/internalised-homophobia