another aspect of the self-hate issue for the younger generation is that there are so many sub-sects of homosexuality and culture, and it has created a lot of discrimination, bigotry and in-fighting within the gay community.... up until the late 1980's when homosexuality finally started becoming more widely accepted in most western cultures, homosexuals as an entire collective were solid.... no matter the sub-sect, no matter what 'scene' you happened to fall in to, age, race, shape, size, etc... if you were gay and out the community took you in and protected you from the harsh realities of homophobia, hate crimes and discrimination.... now that homosexuality is so much more accepted 20+ years later, there is not as much need for the protection, and gays from parts of the world that condemn homosexuality can easily find a safe place where they can just live and be themselves....
but can they?
the self-hate problem that gays go through now is because a homosexual will go through the agonizing process of coming out and accepting themself as JUST homosexual, but then they have to go through a similar process of discovering what TYPE of homosexual they are.... it varies in style(trendy/sporty/denim/leather/preppy/nerdy/etc...), body types(twink/otter/bear/cub/chub/daddy/etc...), ethnicities(well, i won't get in to that....), sexual tastes and roles (top/bttm/vers/vers top/vers bttm/BDSM/piggyFROT&oral only/etc...) and well: you get the drift.... once they get all these things figured out, they have to immerse them self in to the big gay melting pot, and are faced with hordes of people who are not interested in them and are not very nice about it....
where's the love?
it shouldn't just be saved for rallies and big parades every summer or when some big gay 'whatever' bill is about to go through the government; it needs to be there ALL THE TIME.... who are we to presume that just because a person is out as a homosexual, that they have found their place of belonging as one? for some it's easy, but for others it's a very painstaking process of trial and error.... and in some cases, gays will submit to things they don't want, go back in the closet, or that worst case scenario that is absolutely heartbreaking....
it's not just straight people and the homophobic haters that cause gays to hate themselves.... it's the twink-ophobes, the FROT-ophobes and age-ophobes, race-ophobes, bear-ophobes, daddy-phobes.... it just keeps going....
i have come so close to the point of no return so many times, and the funny thing is that it wasn't straight people who brought me to that point... i'm lucky to live somewhere that homosexuality is as normal as breathing.... it was other homosexuals hating on me and judging me for who i was that made me hate myself so much.... here i thought that when i came out, everything was going to 'get better' and it got worse.... it still stings me on a daily basis, and there is nothing i can do about it....
so my advice:
no matter if you are gay, straight, bi or trans, no matter your race, your style, your type or your tastes: show some RESPECT.... don't ever presume that just because someone is out in the open that there isn't something hurting them still deep inside.... show your support and solidarity to ALL HOMOSEXUALS, ALL THE TIME.... we should do this in honour of those who gave and lost their lives so we could live out in the open.... folks like kieth haring, divine, and freddie mercury would be rolling in their graves if they knew what was happening here right now, and before anyone expects the whole of society to accept homosexuality in ALL its forms, we need to start accepting each other first....
and that is my 2 cents....