Is gay more of a US identity?

[viking8x6]

Keeping this short, I'd say "Western" rather than "American". Two factors come to my mind that I believe are likely to be responsible for the difference between Western ideas on homosexuality and those in other countries:

1. Cultural values, and in particular those regarding family structure, which vary pretty strongly between what I might describe as "major cultural divisions of humanity".

2. Judeochristian ideas regarding family roles and sex. Between Moses and St. Paul, those are IMO pretty thoroughly fucked up. Not that others aren't, but the JC versions specifically are what "gay" and "queer" culture is in opposition to.

 

[BergenGuy]

8 hours ago, VersGuyAnon said:

There's a lot of "queer" in the UK now, but I hate the word. I'm gay. 

I'm with you.  I despise that word "queer."

[hntnhole]

20 hours ago, viking8x6 said:

St. Paul

I think it was H. Richard Niebuhr, whose "work" I don't admire, advanced a thiiiiin line of reasoning that Paul was himself gay, based on certain non-canonical letters.  This goes way back to undergrad days/required courses at that institution, and I haven't researched any of his stuff, but - thought I'd mention it.  He was probably sucking off the altar boys at the time anyway.

I'm so pleased that entire ball of shit got flushed out of my mind as early as it did.  

[Guest]

On 5/31/2023 at 7:02 PM, VersGuyAnon said:

There's a lot of "queer" in the UK now, but I hate the word. I'm gay. 

I (not unseriously) joke with a friend that the modern "queer" people seem to be straights that are achingly longing for the edge that us gays have but don't want the reality of it. If I had a pound for every queer man I know that hasn't man-on-manned but has a girlfriend