I’m not a gay man and I can’t pretend to speak on their behalf, but I have plenty of gay friends to know they aren’t all flaming, finger-snapping, neck-rolling stereotypes. I may not completely understand being sexually attracted to the same sex personally, but I sure as hell know what gay ISN’T.
When the headline “Kevin Clash Gay, But Not Molestor: Accuser Recants Statement” hit the internet earlier this week, there was a part of me that was a mess of confusion and disappointment. More so than being disgusted at the allegations made against the popular Elmo puppeteer, I was also jaded at the excitement the media seems to get off of including the word “gay” and “sexual predator” in the same sentence. It reminds me of popular stereotypes in which gay men instantly get labeled as child molesters or even use of the common disclaimer “No homo” when a man compliments another man’s appearance. It’s not to say that there aren’t homosexual child molesters, but gay isn’t some kind of season pass to a world of promiscuous sex, leather chaps and deviant behavior. Gay can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but listed below are a few things that it just isn’t:
