Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an increasingly middle aged gay man who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it is amusing to witness today's youth generation.

There are some parallels with yesterday's teen angst, particularly among that female demographic. But I am especially amused by that the rapid growth in "queer" identities is not matched by an equal growth in same sex relationships and same sex activity.

Make what you want of it. I do find most of the "queer" identifying women rather silly and infantile, faking imaginary identities for themselves as an escape from the other problems in their lives. When it's become a cliche down to the point of having identical uniforms with their identical purple hairs and canvas bags and tattoos and clear rimmed glasses, you know there's something going on that is far more that genuine sexual attraction, which is not something you can fake your way through. I concur with previous posters who pointed out straight people do not have sexual attractions with the same gender. They just don't. That's why they're straight, for the same reason gay men are not attracted to sex with women. We find it repulsive.

Slightly younger gay here. I think there is a legitimate question that needs to be researched on why the frequency identifying as LGBT+ has increased so dramatically. Increasing acceptance and tolerance is probably explains part of this change. However, the research is clear that the genetic heritability for sexuality is no where near 100% and likely under 50%. So what environmental components other than increasing acceptance are possibly causing this significant generational difference. Is human sexuality more flexible/malleable than we previously thought or is it related to environmental changes. Sexuality does not have to be a choice for changes in the population frequency population of a specific behavior to be explained by environmental factors.

I am also a younger gay man and slight agree with younger-gay-and I really agree with middle-aged-gay PP and completely understand the and have had the same observations as OP.

I think some of the increase is greater acceptance which is great.

But there is no way that this on it’s own is the reason for the huge increase. I’m skeptical if it’s even responsible for the majority of the increase.

And the increase is most pronounced in women. There was a massive national trans youth survey done in 2017 or 18 and almost all non-binary people were under age 24… and a full 80% were assigned female at birth.

In European countries that had government funded youth gender clinics, there was a study showing the numbers and demographics of kids over the history of the clinic being open. Until like 2015 there was always slightly more male-to-female transitioners (like 1.25 males-to-female for every 1 female-to-male) over a period of a couple years the numbers increased so high they stopped accepting new patients and the ratio went to more than 2 female-to-male for every 1 male-to-female.

There is 100% some social contagion here.

Which in and of itself isn’t bad. Gatekeeping can be very obnoxious too.

Kids exploring their identities is fine, even if it sometimes seems silly and performative and a bit obnoxious to us older generations

Where, in my opinion, it has become enough of an issue (enough that I’m asking myself WTAF is happening, and reading studies and surveys like I previously mentioned in order to better understand);

is that the cliché queer individuals the middle-aged-gay PP described are becoming the loudest and dominant voice—and thus the face of the LGBTQ+ movement. And a lot of their ideas are controversial to even the rest of us. But heaven forbid you speak out unless you want to be shunned and shamed.

Just my two cents as a younger millenial gay man.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an increasingly middle aged gay man who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it is amusing to witness today's youth generation.

There are some parallels with yesterday's teen angst, particularly among that female demographic. But I am especially amused by that the rapid growth in "queer" identities is not matched by an equal growth in same sex relationships and same sex activity.

Make what you want of it. I do find most of the "queer" identifying women rather silly and infantile, faking imaginary identities for themselves as an escape from the other problems in their lives. When it's become a cliche down to the point of having identical uniforms with their identical purple hairs and canvas bags and tattoos and clear rimmed glasses, you know there's something going on that is far more that genuine sexual attraction, which is not something you can fake your way through. I concur with previous posters who pointed out straight people do not have sexual attractions with the same gender. They just don't. That's why they're straight, for the same reason gay men are not attracted to sex with women. We find it repulsive.

Slightly younger gay here. I think there is a legitimate question that needs to be researched on why the frequency identifying as LGBT+ has increased so dramatically. Increasing acceptance and tolerance is probably explains part of this change. However, the research is clear that the genetic heritability for sexuality is no where near 100% and likely under 50%. So what environmental components other than increasing acceptance are possibly causing this significant generational difference. Is human sexuality more flexible/malleable than we previously thought or is it related to environmental changes. Sexuality does not have to be a choice for changes in the population frequency population of a specific behavior to be explained by environmental factors.

It’s pretty simple. Children like feeling special. They want to be different and stand out. This is an easy way for them to do it at a young age and they just keep going down the rabbit hole.

Anonymous wrote:As an increasingly middle aged gay man who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it is amusing to witness today's youth generation.

There are some parallels with yesterday's teen angst, particularly among that female demographic. But I am especially amused by that the rapid growth in "queer" identities is not matched by an equal growth in same sex relationships and same sex activity.

Make what you want of it. I do find most of the "queer" identifying women rather silly and infantile, faking imaginary identities for themselves as an escape from the other problems in their lives. When it's become a cliche down to the point of having identical uniforms with their identical purple hairs and canvas bags and tattoos and clear rimmed glasses, you know there's something going on that is far more that genuine sexual attraction, which is not something you can fake your way through. I concur with previous posters who pointed out straight people do not have sexual attractions with the same gender. They just don't. That's why they're straight, for the same reason gay men are not attracted to sex with women. We find it repulsive.

Slightly younger gay here. I think there is a legitimate question that needs to be researched on why the frequency identifying as LGBT+ has increased so dramatically. Increasing acceptance and tolerance is probably explains part of this change. However, the research is clear that the genetic heritability for sexuality is no where near 100% and likely under 50%. So what environmental components other than increasing acceptance are possibly causing this significant generational difference. Is human sexuality more flexible/malleable than we previously thought or is it related to environmental changes. Sexuality does not have to be a choice for changes in the population frequency population of a specific behavior to be explained by environmental factors.

Let’s talk more about minors sexuality. Cool and normal.

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I had a niece become a man at 14 aa claimed transgender but I think she is just. Lesbian pretending to be a man for some weird reason

Transition at 14 is incredibly uncommon. I guess you mean a social transition or puberty blockers?

I agree. I had a niece become a man at 14 aa claimed transgender but I think she is just. Lesbian pretending to be a man for some weird reason

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I guess you don’t believe in fluidity.

If you are sexually fluid, you are not straight. That's not the way that works. Everyone always thinks everyone is just like them but no. Straight people never fall in love or get crushes on people of the same gender. That's why they're straight. They're only attracted to the opposite. You can define it as fluid or bisexual or whatever. Even call yourself straight if you want but you're not like the other straight people.

Huh? Same-gender crushes are extremely common for people who call themselves straight.

So is "straight men" giving blowjobs. You're welcome to call yourself heteroflexible or straight or whatever you want. But actual straight people don't do these things. They're all just variations of bisexuality.

Oh ffs stop policing people’s gender identity. If people say they’re straight, they’re straight. Regardless of if someone else with similar preferences and experience might call themselves bi or pan or queer or whatever.

Honestly it’s getting to the point where all these words are meaningless.

People complain that it's too granulated. Too many micro-identities. Then we have people claiming that "words are meaningless". Words aren't meaningless. People have microlabels and identities because they help people pinpoint what they identify as. Again, you can claim you're a straight woman that gets crushes or has sexual attraction towards other women if you'd like but ACTUAL straight women don't experience that. Words do have meanings and you're trying to redefine straight to be a meaningless word, not me. This sounds like internalized biphobia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I guess you don’t believe in fluidity.

If you are sexually fluid, you are not straight. That's not the way that works. Everyone always thinks everyone is just like them but no. Straight people never fall in love or get crushes on people of the same gender. That's why they're straight. They're only attracted to the opposite. You can define it as fluid or bisexual or whatever. Even call yourself straight if you want but you're not like the other straight people.

Huh? Same-gender crushes are extremely common for people who call themselves straight.

So is "straight men" giving blowjobs. You're welcome to call yourself heteroflexible or straight or whatever you want. But actual straight people don't do these things. They're all just variations of bisexuality.

Oh ffs stop policing people’s gender identity. If people say they’re straight, they’re straight. Regardless of if someone else with similar preferences and experience might call themselves bi or pan or queer or whatever.

Honestly it’s getting to the point where all these words are meaningless.

As an increasingly middle aged gay man who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it is amusing to witness today's youth generation.

There are some parallels with yesterday's teen angst, particularly among that female demographic. But I am especially amused by that the rapid growth in "queer" identities is not matched by an equal growth in same sex relationships and same sex activity.

Make what you want of it. I do find most of the "queer" identifying women rather silly and infantile, faking imaginary identities for themselves as an escape from the other problems in their lives. When it's become a cliche down to the point of having identical uniforms with their identical purple hairs and canvas bags and tattoos and clear rimmed glasses, you know there's something going on that is far more that genuine sexual attraction, which is not something you can fake your way through. I concur with previous posters who pointed out straight people do not have sexual attractions with the same gender. They just don't. That's why they're straight, for the same reason gay men are not attracted to sex with women. We find it repulsive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I spent so much time as a teenager wishing to be straight (like "I probably am straight because I'm not actively fantasizing about her VAGINA, I must just think about her so much because i want to be LIKE her," thought 15 year old me who wasnt ready to get sexy with anyone), and now that I'm old and married to a man I hear straight women don't do this?!

Man, kids today have different lives, good for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I guess you don’t believe in fluidity.

If you are sexually fluid, you are not straight. That's not the way that works. Everyone always thinks everyone is just like them but no. Straight people never fall in love or get crushes on people of the same gender. That's why they're straight. They're only attracted to the opposite. You can define it as fluid or bisexual or whatever. Even call yourself straight if you want but you're not like the other straight people.

Huh? Same-gender crushes are extremely common for people who call themselves straight.

So is "straight men" giving blowjobs. You're welcome to call yourself heteroflexible or straight or whatever you want. But actual straight people don't do these things. They're all just variations of bisexuality.

Oh ffs stop policing people’s gender identity. If people say they’re straight, they’re straight. Regardless of if someone else with similar preferences and experience might call themselves bi or pan or queer or whatever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I guess you don’t believe in fluidity.

If you are sexually fluid, you are not straight. That's not the way that works. Everyone always thinks everyone is just like them but no. Straight people never fall in love or get crushes on people of the same gender. That's why they're straight. They're only attracted to the opposite. You can define it as fluid or bisexual or whatever. Even call yourself straight if you want but you're not like the other straight people.

Huh? Same-gender crushes are extremely common for people who call themselves straight.

So is "straight men" giving blowjobs. You're welcome to call yourself heteroflexible or straight or whatever you want. But actual straight people don't do these things. They're all just variations of bisexuality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I guess you don’t believe in fluidity.

If you are sexually fluid, you are not straight. That's not the way that works. Everyone always thinks everyone is just like them but no. Straight people never fall in love or get crushes on people of the same gender. That's why they're straight. They're only attracted to the opposite. You can define it as fluid or bisexual or whatever. Even call yourself straight if you want but you're not like the other straight people.

Huh? Same-gender crushes are extremely common for people who call themselves straight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Maybe that is happening for your tweens/teens in their circle but that is not universally true at all.

From what I’ve observed from my kids, most don’t care much about identity/sexuality. It just is what is is and it’s all very fluid. If they want to talk about it, fine, but it’s not a big deal if they don’t. Many aren’t into boys or girls at all.

The kids are fine. It’s the adults who are having trouble with all of it.

Well clearly a lot of kids care about it. Otherwise you wouldn’t have 11 yr olds with zero romantic experience with either gender, telling everyone they are bi

I meant they don’t care about others - they aren’t pressuring each other to “pick”. People are what they are and it’s all very fluid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, I understand OPs point. Identifying as gay/bi seems to be pretty common for girls in middle school. They pressure each other to declare how they identify. You must pick. I remember having girl crushes in upper el and early middle school. I’m not bi. In middle school, girls start taking care of their appearance and hygiene, care about their clothes, and are just further through puberty. Middle school boys on the other hand, often smell like BO, are short and prepubescent, and socially immature. It’s a no brainer that these boys are not especially appealing to their same age girl classmates. But that didn’t used to mean you were bi/gay if you are into boys at 11. Now girls are made to think they are unless they feel very strongly otherwise.

I don’t think this is benign either (declaring very young). It can leave girls in uncomfortable situations during sleepovers or even when hanging out in bedrooms he such. Sexual exploration when you are too young and/or with the same gender if that ultimately isn’t where you identify can be confusing and emotionally damaging.

Straight girls/women do not have crushes on other girls/women

I guess you don’t believe in fluidity.

If you are sexually fluid, you are not straight. That's not the way that works. Everyone always thinks everyone is just like them but no. Straight people never fall in love or get crushes on people of the same gender. That's why they're straight. They're only attracted to the opposite. You can define it as fluid or bisexual or whatever. Even call yourself straight if you want but you're not like the other straight people.