[OFF TOPIC] General Chat

[Olympian1010 7,934]

21 minutes ago, Griff88 said:

Not strict actually, but rather a cherry-picked one with inconsistent implementation

All I know is that me nor @thiago_simoes should ever ever holiday there. I’ll stick to Mammoth personally 

[thiago_simoes 1,421]

12 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

All I know is that me nor @thiago_simoes should ever ever holiday there. I’ll stick to Mammoth personally 

With all due respect, I'm never ever going to visit a muslim nation. Not a chance. I know many muslims are nice people, but all it takes is one conservative muslim to make my life a nightmare once they discover I'm gay, and I fear for my life, so nope. Nope, nope, nope. I have my fair share of shitty protestants to deal with in Brazil. (PS: not all protestants are bad towards gay people, but in Brazil 90% of them are, and dealing with them is unbearable.)

[heywoodu 14,895]

10 minutes ago, thiago_simoes said:

With all due respect, I'm never ever going to visit a muslim nation. Not a chance. I know many muslims are nice people, but all it takes is one conservative muslim to make my life a nightmare once they discover I'm gay, and I fear for my life, so nope. Nope, nope, nope. I have my fair share of shitty protestants to deal with in Brazil. (PS: not all protestants are bad towards gay people, but in Brazil 90% of them are, and dealing with them is unbearable.)

Sad, but it's the only smart move one can take. I'm happy the few protestant (I think, Christian, but definitely not Catholic) people I know couldn't care less about someone's sexual orientation as long as it makes them happy.

[Griff88 1,949]

1 hour ago, thiago_simoes said:

With all due respect, I'm never ever going to visit a muslim nation. Not a chance. I know many muslims are nice people, but all it takes is one conservative muslim to make my life a nightmare once they discover I'm gay, and I fear for my life, so nope. Nope, nope, nope. I have my fair share of shitty protestants to deal with in Brazil. (PS: not all protestants are bad towards gay people, but in Brazil 90% of them are, and dealing with them is unbearable.)

 

I believe you are not a guy who carries megaphone everywhere and scream "I'm gay, please don't hurt me".... So I think you should be pretty much alright anywhere, why so afraid?

[bestmen 2,785]

[heywoodu 14,895]

Just now, Griff88 said:

 

I believe you are not a guy who carries megaphone everywhere and scream "I'm gay, please don't hurt me".... So I think you should be pretty much alright anywhere, why so afraid?

I've got a feeling that's a bit much underestimating the agression some idiots feel towards gay people, or people who they 'suspect' of being gay.

[Griff88 1,949]

Just now, heywoodu said:

I've got a feeling that's a bit much underestimating the agression some idiots feel towards gay people, or people who they 'suspect' of being gay.

I live in a country which that kind of thing happens quite a few times..... I can't say for other country but being a foreigner here is already a protective shield to make them think twice (being a caucasian will even increase that shield's effectiveness)

 

Yes those idiots are there and can be very scary, but at least try getting yourself below the radar (get caught by idiots mean you are even dumber.. )

[heywoodu 14,895]

Just now, Griff88 said:

I live in a country which that kind of thing happens quite a few times..... I can't say for other country but being a foreigner here is already a protective shield to make them think twice (being a caucasian will even increase that shield's effectiveness)

 

Yes those idiots are there and can be very scary, but at least try getting yourself below the radar (get caught by idiots mean you are even dumber.. )

Like going to one of the billion other places with less risk  

[thiago_simoes 1,421]

3 hours ago, Griff88 said:

 

I believe you are not a guy who carries megaphone everywhere and scream "I'm gay, please don't hurt me".... So I think you should be pretty much alright anywhere, why so afraid?

Things are not so simple.

I am a lot of different things: male, Brazilian, overweight, mixed race, agnostic, professor/teacher... being gay is one of these things. It's not the most important thing in my life, but it is something I'm very comfortable about being.

Let's suppose we engage in a conversation and I decide to tell you about something my students did, or about one specific subject from a class I've taught. You'll immediately understand I am a teacher, and hopefully the conversation will go on without me explaining that I am a teacher; you will understand from the context and hopefully will not be pissed off by this specific information. Now, let's suppose you tell me about something your wife did, and then I tell you "my boyfriend did the same thing". You will probably understand at this point that I am a gay man, and if you live in a muslim nation, this will probably trigger someone who is eavesdropping (or maybe even you). However, since there's nothing wrong about me being a teacher, why must it be wrong when I say (or imply) that I am gay? Why should I suppress this information in a conversation when I would never omit from a conversation the fact that I am a teacher, if I believe this is relevant.

It's brutal, but in order to be safe, I have to take extra care, especially when I am in a foreign country. When you are gay, you learn to be afraid of even the most trivial conversations in unknown territories whenever you feel threatened. You either have to 1) omit any information about your significant other, or your sexuality; or 2) be vigilant and completely rephrase your sentences on your mind before you speak them, if your sentence somehow refers to your (or one's sexuality or significant other). It sucks to speak about my former relationships by saying "person" or "significant other". I'm sure straight people would never be afraid to openly speak about their wives and husbands, but gay people always feel threatened whenever they have to speak up.

There's another thing: not being "effeminate" doesn't make me any less gay. And I 100% support effeminate men, or butch women. Anybody lives however they want to live, and if this is how they chose to present themselves to the world, so be it. They should never ever be afraid of even walking outside on the sidewalk, and unfortunately these people are the number one targets, especially in ultra conservative societies.

As a final point, why would I ever spend my hard earned money in a country full of conservative people who have specific laws against gay people and clearly do not like people like me? I would never.

[Olympian1010 7,934]

I’m finding it hard to sleep tonight after today’s news. It was just so sudden and unexpected. I just wish I knew more, and that I’d gotten to know the user better. I feels weird to carry on like nothing happened. Maybe that’s just me though, I don’t know. I might not post for a bit, I’m just not feeling up to it. Hopefully I sleep well and have a better mental state tomorrow.