I agree in the main with you Lou, but I still find a number of people who feel... uncomfortable around gay men and women, and sometimes the jokes aren't so funny. I've never gotten what exactly the percieved problem is with "the gays", so I've always been very aware when people display prejudice regarding orientation. I'll try and mention a few specific things I remember.

One is the way that if a man or woman is gay, some people see it as a loss, or a weakness on their part. Someone (a straight female) saying that some female celeb being gay is such a loss. Guys implying that some footballer being gay is a weakness. I hear a lot of "Really? He's gay? Well, he must be a giver..." as if to say that "taking it" would be a complete loss of masculinity.

I've also found females to be less accepting of lesbians than they are of gay men. I've one friend who was weird with me for aaaages after I told her I was bi. She only became normal again with me when she basically forgot about it, and since then she still gets awkward when it comes up.

A friend who is gay recently went off to uni but came back because he was so desperately unhappy because the guys he was living with in the dorms. They were just so horrible to him - I must admit, perhaps they just didn't like the cut of his jibb, but from what he told me it was mostly to do with their discomfort about being around a gay man.


And these are examples, not isolated events. I do agree though that there is a lot more light-hearted attitude, and less chance of actual physical beatings due to orientation. However, there is still an underlying prejudice that should be ignored, but not forgotten.


And by that I don't mean remember your prejudices...