Carle Jasmin (Image : AI / Gay Globe)
In the long list of prejudices that persist about two men—one gay and the other straight—there is the belief surrounding friendship between them. According to this common assumption, the straight man would constantly think that the gay man wants to have sexual relations with him, while the gay man would always be thinking about sex with the straight man. Nothing could be further from the truth, based on my experience.
Friendship is a human feeling that does not involve sexuality, as a general rule. This feeling can exist between all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, or age. Friendship is one of the most universal human emotions.
This prejudice mainly comes from several widespread misunderstandings about sexuality and relationships between men.
There is first a persistent idea that male sexuality is always “in the background,” as if it were automatically present in every interaction. As a result, some heterosexual men may project their own perceptions onto a gay man and wrongly assume that there is necessarily a sexual intention as soon as a bond is formed.
On the other side, gay men have long been reduced to their sexuality in popular culture. Films, media, stereotypes… all of this has often created a highly sexualized image of male homosexuality, which reinforces the idea that a gay man is constantly thinking about sex, even in entirely ordinary situations such as friendship.
It is also important to note that for a long time, homosexuality was surrounded by suspicion and taboo, which strengthened a distorted view of relationships between men. When a subject is poorly understood or unfamiliar, it is often filled with projections and clichés.
Admittedly, I have had friendships with straight guys who did not know I was gay, very often during my teenage years or early adulthood. And when I eventually chose to speak about it, things generally went well, except with a childhood friend who concluded that if I told him, it was to seek sex from him, which was completely false.
He distanced himself, and in my view, it was not so much because of my sexual orientation, but rather because of his perception of how others might judge having a gay friend. This seemed to raise doubts in him about his masculinity, which is frankly absurd.
If I am writing about this in this article, at the invitation of our editor, it is because we are beginning Pride Month, and it is important to always remember who we are as individuals, regardless of how others see us. This is what Pride means for members of LGBTQ+ communities.
ADVERTISING
READ ALSO
11,900 Articles Published: Gay Globe Reaches a New Historic Milestone
https://gayglobe.net/en/gay-globe-11900-articles-30-years-lgbtq-media-history/
The anti-fraud protection of Gay Globe for its readers and users
https://gayglobe.net/the-anti-fraud-protection-of-gay-globe-for-its-readers-and-users/
An ethical and deontological certification for Gay Globe
https://gayglobe.net/an-ethical-and-deontological-certification-for-gay-globe/
Gay Globe Media
https://gayglobe.net/gay-globe-media/
GAY GLOBE Magazine n°168 – LGBTQ+ news, culture and society – Special STING
https://gayglobe.net/ggmag168/
Gay Globe Magazine – Canadian LGBTQ+ Media Since 1998
https://gayglobe.net/about/
Groupe Gay Globe Media International
https://gayglobe.net/apropos/
Rions un peu : Analyse of Gay Globe by artificial intelligence (Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, Claude)
https://gayglobe.net/analyse-gay-globe-intelligence-artificielle/
Gay Globe reaches a new milestone in LGBTQ+ media history
https://gayglobe.net/en/gay-globe-11900-articles-30-years-lgbtq-media-history/