I have absolutely no issues with anypony's sexual orientation, gender preference, etc. I've got friends who are gay, pansexual, transgender... pretty much the whole gamut. So I'm very supportive of everypony being able to make their own decisions. It disturbs me how much hate there is directed towards the LGBT community. I find it completely ridiculous. We need more love and tolerance, and less fear of the unknown.
I saw this thread go up just as I was getting ready for work yesterday, and was actually annoyed that I didn't have time to post one of my wall of texts on the subject - because I was actually worried that no pony would post! Sometimes, I like being proven wrong. Luprony, you've hit the nail on the head. Sexuality is fluid, and defining it in pure silliness. It's like defining some one by their taste in food, or clothing. My best friend happens to be a woman that likes women. She also likes cats, birds, liberal politics, science, Star Wars, and a bunch of other things that define her more thoroughly than what gender she sleeps with. As for me, well, even though I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I never really even heard of the GLBT community until the 7th grade. And, I'll admit, the idea seemed weird to me, but I didn't really worry about it. At least, now I knew what they meant when they called me those names, any ways. I really never thought about the issue until I got into college, and was surprised one day when I realized all the new friends I had made were gay or lesbian or bi. This got me to thinking about my own sexual identity, and after some deep thought, I decided - It don't matter. I'm attracted to whatever I'm attracted to. I will love the person I fall in love with, not because of their gender, but because our personalities mesh, and we enjoy one another's company. I suppose people would consider me bi, although I never think of myself like that. I talk to my wife about guys that are attractive, or roll my eyes at her choices, but I don't define myself because of my sexuality, nor do I do so with other people. And, DanSze - try not to be too hard if some one asks you out that you're not interested in. We don't wear signs proclaiming our preferences. I've had a few friends that felt tortured because they wanted to ask a certain some one out, but weren't sure how they'd react. I've been asked out by guys, and my wife gets hit on all the time (well, back in the Bay Area - here, it's a different story altogether), and I just say, "Sorry, I'm already involved with some one." And that's usually that. Nothing terrible happens. Well, I could go on, but I think I've said enough.
...Uh... I think Dwynter is right, pal. I have to say, I agree with what He has to say moreso than people think. I've been asked out a couple of times myself. Every time I would just say no; nothing more, really. Turns out people thought I was gay because of my high pitched voice. How embarrasing, pal.
exactly what I wanted to say in my first post of this thread (just seems like no one noticed it and it was lot shorter). same as Lupr, I don't care if you're gay/bi/transgender/lesbian/straight, that's not what I look in people I wanna be friends with. What it's important for me is weather you're good person or not, weather you're honest (yes, honesty is one of things I value most in person, and people that know me better know that very well), loyal, nice, somewhat fun (basically things that are valued in MLP). Only, with male gay/bi friends (or people I just meet), when I find out they are interested in men, I simply (nicely) make it clear that I'm straight, just to avoid any awkward situations of hearth breaking from start.
Good enough, I just hope we don't put pressure onto people who may just be naturally uncomfortable around homosexuals rather than flat-out haters.
Better to be comfortable with yourself first than to worry about the thoughts of others. I still havnt found my sexuality and im fine with that, so the rest is just gravy.
I'm in agreement with Dwynter on this one, except he worded it much better than I could have. Basically, when I find love, what's important is that it's love; not what gender my partner is. I'll figure it out when that time comes, but until then it's just not really worth choosing a label. Call it what you will; bi-sexual, undecided, or whatever. I just think of sexuality as being much less set in stone than it's usually though of as being. I don't think anyone wants to ward off anyone who is uncomfortable with/doesn't support LGBT. If we're going to expect other people to not flame this thread, then the least we can do is be respectful to anyone who comes here with an opposing opinion, and listen to what they have to say. So basically, I think the thread should stay, but you're definitely right, we need to be careful not to stereotype or discriminate against anyone who disagrees.
I um, just wanted to say that I'm actually glad this thread is here. I probably won't post in it much but just seeing it kinda reassures me I guess. I'm used to receiving a lot of hate on the internet and real life on account of me being a brony as well as bisexual, so just this thread being here makes me feel better about myself, dunno why.
Because we're here to help. If anyone insults you or any gay/bi/trans member here, I'll be sure to let certain authorites do whatever it takes. You have my word on that.
I'm surprised this thread didn't pop up sooner. I fully support the choices people make for their orientation/gender. It doesn't bother me, even the flamboyant ones. I tend to find them fascinating and my mom always described them as "more down to Earth." With that being said... ...I think sexual confusion, forced on by the current society's fearful, subjective, and misguided views is a problem. (Giggle at the Ghosties) The sad truth of kids committing suicide after being bullied is awful. Orientation should not be a stigma; it shouldn't even be relevant to a person, but some people cannot, nor will they ever, see past this. The true monsters of our world are the ones who cannot tolerate this and choose to use these people as outlets for frustration and hatred. I support the choice, when made openly, but I pity our society that confuses those who are not ready to explore the possibility for themselves, when they are ready. Rainbow Dash being associated as a gay symbol for FiM isn't unusual or surprising. I think would be inaccurate to use her, but not for the reasons everyone describes. The fact is: the world and the main characters are all female. A lot of times, close friends hook up. I don't mind it, but I think the"open minded" (see: knowledge seeker) Twilight would be far more appropriate based on personality alone. Rainbow Dash comes off as far too headstrong to make any conclusion. Anyway, in a world of all females, it's fairly obvious where the bottlenecked romance leads. :\ @Those in the closet -- I hope for the best, and that everyone supports or accepts you when you come out. It's not an easy feat.
I agree. The fact that there's a site that accepts bronies of all sexualities is, to me, a very very veryveryvery cool thing. IRL, the magnificent man who introduced me to MLP:FiM was also a fellow LGBT supporter. Joy all around.
Oh, alright, thanks. I wish I could be as open about it IRL, heh. My mom hates me for it, as do a good chunk of my former friends, but eh. I have bronies now. Yeah. It really just is a relief that a place like this with a thread like this exists.
me too, it makes me feel better, even if i dont post that much i love to read all the suport words that everypony give.
Well I haven't posted here yet so... I grew up with these two neighbors, they were both guys and at the time I thought they were like roommates or something, I was too young to put 2 and 2 together ya know? Anywho...they were just about the nicest people I'd ever met in my life, and probably ever will. Some years after they moved out and I found out that they were a gay couple. So I guess that's prolly why I have a positive attitude towards gays/lesbians now. Still, I have the same reservations about LGBT people's behavior that I do towards religious people (or anyone, really). I'm absolutely fine talking to/hanging out with you, but please don't try to push any kind of agenda on me or worse, try to convert me. As long as you're cool with that, I'm cool with you. ^.^
To be honest, I've been avoiding this thread because I normally don't like to participate in sensitive topics of this nature, but I suppose I'll contribute my two bits. Sorry if I repeat some things that others have said. I have no qualms with homosexuality whatsoever. The way I see it, it's completely natural and just how some of us are. I don't fall into the group that believe homosexuality is a choice. I don't think it's a choice, I truly believe one was born that way. My heterosexuality wasn't a choice. Some people are just naturally attracted to the opposite gender, same gender, both, or neither. That's just how it is. I don't understand why some people make such a huge deal out of it to be honest. I'm not homophobic, and to be honest, I think I was actually even hit on by a guy once. At my university, I have to take a bus to get to my classes or else choose to take a 25 minute walk from the student parking lot. One day while I was sitting in the back of the bus, a guy and a girl get on and the girl sits in the seat in front of me and the guy sits next to me. I assumed they were either just friends or maybe that was his girlfriend. What happened shortly after made my day. He says out loud, "Is it warm back here?" Then he turns to me and says, "Or is it just you?" I was surprised, but I wasn't offended. In fact, I thought it was hilarious. I was caught so off-guard, that I didn't even have a response and just laughed. Shortly after that my stop came up and I just got off the bus, but that made my day. If a gay guy ever said I was good-looking, I would thank him. To me, I just consider it a compliment. I would just say, "Thank you for the compliment, but I don't swing that way, but I appreciate it." I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I also don't mind being hugged by guys (gay or straight). Not including family members, one (straight) guy I used to work with gave me a big hug before I left my previous place of employment. He actually told me, "Before you leave, I'm going to give you a big bear hug." I thought he was joking, but he was serious. Some of my co-workers even took pictures of it for laughs and memories. I'm confident enough in my own heterosexuality to just not even care. There were two guys that I used to talk to that were gay, and we became pretty good friends while I was working there. I didn't care what they did in their private lives. To me, human sexuality is much more complicated than some make it seem. Some people still have this inaccurate view that sexuality is black and white: you're simply straight or gay. I used to have this poor view a long time ago, but I was curious enough to do a little independent research into it just to see if it was true. I learned about the Kinsey Scale, and it does seem strange when you think about it from a statistical perspective. Supposedly most people in the world are heterosexual, but via statistical analysis you would think a normal distribution (bell curve) would be a more accurate representation of human sexuality. That's to say, most are bisexual, but of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out why most identify as heterosexual. That's due to societal pressures. I also hate some of the ignorant double-standards. I remember one female co-worker I used to work with say that male bisexuality is a myth, yet female bisexuality exists. I couldn't believe how stupid that sounded. I also learned of a very dumb saying, "A man can build 1,000 bridges and not be called a bridge-builder, but..." I won't say the rest because it's inappropriate for this forum, but I'm sure some of you may have heard it before. It's so stupid, and that's how some of these people think! I'm also a huge proponent of gay marriage. I see no reason why homosexuals should not be able to marry. I don't think marriage is an exclusively heterosexual right. I think it's a human right. Granted, I'm not a religious individual. I consider myself agnostic. I mean no disrespect toward those who are religious and I'm not going to turn this into a religious debate. I have yet to see or hear a good reason outside of religion why homosexuals shouldn't marry. The most common I encounter is, "We must protect the sanctity of marriage." I, personally, laugh whenever I hear that because, in some cases, the sanctity of marriage has long been destroyed because of infidelity. Before anyone gets angry with me, I'm talking about some cases. Three members on this very forum (Dwynter, Winter_Lotus and Saikyo) are prime examples of when the sanctity of marriage is preserved. So I don't want anyone getting angry with me thinking I'm talking about marriage in general. I'm not. I'm talking about some of those other ones. I, too, hope to enter into matrimony some day. My point is, if two people love each other, whether they be a man or a woman, two women, or two men, they deserve love and happiness, as well as any of the benefits that come with marriage. I don't find love between two men disgusting at all. To me, love is beautiful in all three of those forms and should be celebrated. If there was anything bad I could say about homosexuality, it would be one thing, but it isn't exclusive to homosexuality. It's something that applies to anything really, even heterosexuality and bronydom, and it's those that are over-the-top and try to force it upon others. I am very much well-aware that this is the minority. So please don't chastise me for saying this. This has never happened to me personally, but that's really the only thing. As I said, this does not, under any circumstances, apply only to homosexuality. Heterosexuals are just as guilty, if not even more so, because some of us have this flawed view that being straight is somehow superior or the correct orientation. That's completely ridiculous. I'm sometimes ashamed to even consider myself straight, because I wouldn't be surprised if some homosexuals don't think too highly of us because of those over-the-top ones that condemn it. I may be going off on a bit of a tangent, but I wanted to say that bronydom has actually opened up my eyes a bit more about the concept of "coming out." Before I became a brony, I had the view that no homosexual or bisexual individual should hide it and should just reveal who they truly are. As a straight guy, this was admittedly ignorance on my part, because, as a closet brony, although I know this is a rather disproportionate analogy, it provided me some insight on being afraid to reveal something about oneself. I had an epiphany at that moment and realized that it must be truly something very difficult to do, and while I still support coming out, I can now sorta relate why one wouldn't feel comfortable in doing so. I hope I'm not offending anyone here. I'm not saying that coming out of the stable is anywhere near as serious an issue as coming out of the closet. All I'm saying is now I have a greater appreciation for what these individuals have to go through. I'm going to wrap up my thoughts by saying once again I have no problems whatsoever with homosexuality or bisexuality, or even the other ones that exist: asexuality, pansexuality, and any others that are there. I support you all the way. I believe homophobia is one of the banes of our existence (unless someone has legitimate homophobia, and by that I mean it's a medical issue and not a personal one). People should just respect others' lifestyles as long as they're not hurting anyone. I also saw some posts about the hugging thing, and I can understand that. That comes under the category of personal space, which others should respect regardless of orientation. I personally draw the line at kissing. I have one male relative that was brought up to kiss someone on the cheek to say goodbye. When he does that to me, I admittedly feel awkward because that's outside of my comfort zone, but I don't overreact. I just respect his upbringing and deal with it (it's not even for a second). I don't want to appear like a jerk and say, "Ew ew ew! That's gross!" So, for those in which cases it may violate your personal space, just respectfully tell them you'd appreciate it if they don't do that, and don't make a big deal out of it. Being hugged by a guy isn't the end of the world, but I still respect this perspective. As I and at least another member have said, that's a personal space issue. Sexuality is just more complex than some people give it credit for. As I mentioned earlier in this post, I long-ago once thought it was rather black and white with no gray area in-between. Today, I know that the reality is much different. It's rather intriguing and I support its multiple forms. Although an unrealistic desire, I would hope one day everyone could put their differences aside, not only in the realm of sexuality, and just respect and embrace each others' differences and unique qualities. However, I realize that such a world is too idealized. We are only human after all.
Yeah. It really makes me feel great... I've dealt with bullies all my life making fun of me, even before I was openly bisexual. I had always been called gay, a *squee!*, weak, a nerd, and so on. It still to this day bothers me. A lot. I feel like I've done something terrible to deserve all of this foul treatment (though I know I haven't...), and it just... really affects me. I just think its great I can post and be myself here, I guess. I've really... caused a lot of pain to myself that I really shouldn't have over my sexuality. I come from a Catholic family (not hating on Religion or anything), and my mom strongly disaproves of it and I actually almost got kicked out for it. Fortunately I didn't but... still.
That's good, I'm just really happy this didn't turn into a big issue. Just remember guys, it's okay if you are uncomfortable with any sort of LBGT thing, just don't be a troll XD
I have no problem with LGBT people and I'm actually bi myself, although generally more attracted to women. I just have to say although I don't think this point has come up I particularly disagree when people say that homosexuality is unnatural. I mean there's 'gay' animals in the wild, so surely it's something that occurs in nature and hasn't been 'invented' by humans. Personally, I believe homosexuality has probably existed before we ever evolved. So who are we to go saying it's wrong?
