Is gay identity extinct or not? That is the question.

[Jingthing]

Lots of recent buzz about this article --

 

Quote

 

The Extinction of Gay Identity

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I increasingly get the sense that gayness itself has scattered, becoming something more various and harder to define. “Gay” tells you about a person’s lusts and loves, but it used to tell you more — about his or her boldness, irreverence, independence. It connoted a particular journey and pronounced struggle, and had its own soundtrack, sartorial flourishes and short list of celebrity icons. Not so anymore.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/opinion/the-extinction-of-gay-identity.html

 

Here's a rebuttal --

 

Quote

 

Sorry, Frank Bruni: Gay Identity Isn't Extinct, It Evolved

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There's a certain hubris about declaring the shared queer experience DOA just because it looks different than it did in 1968, or even 2008.

 

https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2018/4/30/sorry-frank-bruni-gay-identity-isnt-extinct-it-evolved

 

I guess I feel the New York Times article is closer to the truth. At least closer to the TREND. 

 

A little personal note about the celebrity icons part of this from my teen years. While I was never into Judy Garland, I have a vivid memory of innocently telling some buddies that I wanted to go to a Bette Middler concert. The immediate reaction was -- she's for GAYS. I hadn't even made the connection to myself but yeah, they were right. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Jingthing

[Scott]

I don't think it's extinct, but it is more diffuse and less well defined than previously.   It's no longer an either/or situation.  

 

[onthemoon]

16 minutes ago, Scott said:

I don't think it's extinct, but it is more diffuse and less well defined than previously.   It's no longer an either/or situation.  

 

It also matters less and less. I like that. The "gay identity" was important when we had to fight for awareness, tolerance and acceptance. In my little world, that is not an issue any more. The step after acceptance is integration, which in my little world has been accomplished. I am against going back into the gay ghetto and am quite happy in a world where gays and straight people mix, and it is even sometimes not clear whether that guy or the other is gay. Until he shows up one day with a boyfriend or girlfriend.