But what if you like Julie Andrews and musical theatre? What if you are naturally camp, and are happy to be so?
Do you have to dress 'straight' and be macho just to fit in?

It's a great sentiment, but you're basically denigrating a lot of people who are just being themselves, and saying that if they want acceptance they have to conform to other people's idea of 'normal'. Which is a bit daft really.

The point of it is to feel free to be who you want to be, to be who you really are inside.

I can understand why you don't want to march, and I can understand your dislike of 'camp'. It's never good when it's forced and you can always tell when it is...but when it's natural, ohhhh it's good. I've witnessed queens reduce straight men to gibbering apologetic wrecks with one glance and a barbed comment.

As I said, I do understand...but it's not black and white. Without characters like John Inman, Julian and Sandy, Quentin Crisp, Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd etc, you might not have the acceptance you have today. Don't write it off so easily ;)
( Wicca'd Witch needs ideas for a new sig on..., Sun 4 Apr 2010, 13:35, 2 replies)

Camp people don't tend to be the problem
It's when they've been naturally un-camp all their life, then turn into a big raging bender the minute that they come out.
(Iggy Pop's Teeth, Sun 4 Apr 2010, 13:51, closed)

You assume that they have been naturally un-camp though, and not putting on an act for that time.
Can you imagine the release that some people feel when they can finally be themselves? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I can understand why someone might do that.

We've got a mate who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 13. When he went into remission (aged 15), he decided that life was just too short to live a lie. He came out and was suddenly as camp as a row of pink tents - it wasn't an act, just who he was. He'd always been too scared to be himself, you see. He's calmed down a little over the years, but only a little. He couldn't give a flying brief relationship whether you accepted him or not, he is who he is.

He's incredibly brave. He did this in a rural secondary school, and was regularly beaten up for it. Yet he never decided to hide it away again, never tried to pretend to be someone he isn't.

Plus, he's ginger.

Imagine the pain. IMAGINE IT.
( Wicca'd Witch needs ideas for a new sig on..., Sun 4 Apr 2010, 14:02, closed)

Awww, bless him!
He sounds like a great lad.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Sun 4 Apr 2010, 14:07, closed)

I agree with Juan
Sounds like a cracking lad
(Iggy Pop's Teeth, Sun 4 Apr 2010, 14:34, closed)

The vital word here is 'naturally'
as anyone who suddenly seems to become camp on coming out has probably been suppressing their inner 'raging bender' all their lives!
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Sun 4 Apr 2010, 14:06, closed)

Ummm....
I see your point but I have to disagree.

Where I get annoyed is that there is an idea amongst certain aspects of the gay community that by being homosexual then you have to be a die-hard supporter of gay rights. My sexual preference does not give me the duty of acting as an ambassador for my sexuality.

With regards to John Inman, Frankie Howerd etc., yes I agree that they helped make homosexuality more "mainstream" for want of a better word, but did they necessary further the cause, or did they make their own sexuality a source of ridicule for the common man? It can't be denied that in a way they did. My problem is not that people act in a camp manner, if they are genuinely born and bred, dyed in t'wool "camp" then that is fine.

You say that I am denigrating a lot of people, but I feel that a lot of the time, these people are denigrating my sexuality by unneccsary exaggeration of what are, a lot of the time (admittedly not all the time), entirely fabricated characteristics. It's the same as middle class white boys pretending to be lower class black boys.

In the UK, and bear in mind this is where I live so it is the only area I feel bound to comment, homosexuality is GENERALLY no longer a big deal. At all. And I applaud the efforts of those who have helped to make it so, whatever their background.
( Undercovercarrot got done for gross misconduct on..., Mon 5 Apr 2010, 16:54, closed)

I am inclined to agree with your first paragraph - or at least understand the sentiment.

( Wicca'd Witch needs ideas for a new sig on..., Tue 6 Apr 2010, 12:42, closed)