Would a Gay man feel comfortable in PA?

The fact that less than 2% of the population isn't the dominant topic of discussion on this site clearly reveals the disgusting bigotry of progressive rock fans

I am going to say some bigoted things in my following comments but I am a straight man in his 40's who admits that I do feel strange in the presence of the LGBT community.  The concept of two men together as a couple is just foreign to my way of thinking.  Although being the degenerate that I am, two women together as a couple is fine.    Part of it being that I like women so I can see why other people would like women.  Whereas, quite frankly "men are pigs" and some times I don't understand why women would even want to be with them let alone another man.   I also don't get the idea of being trapped in the body of the wrong sex and putting one's body through drug and surgery therapy to change one's body to match who we think we are.  (My apologies to Patricia Queen By-Tor).

This being said, I am not religious and do not have some sort of view of these relationships being immoral.  And although I am somewhat uncomfortable discussing the subject, I am a true believer in the "to each their own" line of thinking...i.e. whatever floats your boat.  I fully support people being happy.  I don't know if it is a biological or a choice decision, and quite frankly it doesn't really make a difference to me either way.  In conclusion this is a site to discuss music.  There are straight people and LGBT people here and most of us believe in treating each other with respect.  As far as I am concerned the fact that there may be sexual preference differences has no bearing on how PA regulars are going to treat others here.  To be honest, it is kind of amazing to me how accepting this site is.

I apologize for the long-windedness.  I hope I did not offend anyone.  Any offenses were purely unintentional and most likely due to my own feeling of uncomfortableness in discussing the subject matter at hand.

About trolls or something like that: I always expect the best of people, so, please, lets be serious and try to reach some point.


Edited by GKR - November 04 2015 at 17:11

I feel a bit lost.

Some time ago there was a thread called "Is prog rock for heteros only?) (something like that), and, at the begning, the guy were mocked, actually. Then I started to speak and everyone get to a synthesis.

What I want to say is: Yes, we should have a thread for the LGBT here, I want to, at least (and we needed). But I dont think that so much discussion was necessary, a simple PM for the members that have declered themselves as gay/lesbians would have take away the doubts.

ONE THING IMPORTANT: when we're talking with a opressed minority (as LGBT is) IT DOESNT DO MUCH to simply say "It doesnt matter wheter you're gay or not". THE WORLD CARES/MATTER. I live in a country where everyday someone dies for its sexual ORIENTATION (not "preference"), your personal opinion does not change the world - otherwise, this would be a false equality.

So, lets go slow, step by step and try not to just "win the discussion" and yes build something different together.

RayRo wrote: Atavachron wrote: RayRo wrote: RayRo wrote:   Prog Archives is not some bigoted discussion forum, but I feel that cultural norms and practices of the 20th Century, such welcoming gays but not actually discussing the "who, what, where and why's" is what is still dominant in the 21st Century for this site.   If PA wants to welcome Gays and Lesbians, it has to show more tolerance that simply saying we're welcome. If members can't read and understand a straight forward statement like my closing paragraph then, indeed, what more is there to say? Believe me I read every word and I got the totality of it, which I think is one of the things that bothered me.   You point out PA is not some bigoted discussion forum ~ presumably like, what, Rednecks&Rifles.com ~ and then complain that isn't enough.   You want more, but then describe in vague, disappointed terms what exactly that means to you.   Those sorts of questions are what you could've posted and stimulated some interesting things rather than just pissed-off and adolescent disillusionment.   Express yourself, anticipate all, create, progress, live. I want more for the people here. Do you seriously think that these discussions ever start in a civilized manner or ever end in them as you have just ably demonstrated?   The important thing to me is to put the truth out there. If people can recognize it and change, then more power to them. If it falls on deaf ears or gets sidetracked, is there any loss?

Do you know Progressive Rock is? I expect not at this point. Do you know what a troll is? You can't blame the forum for your own trolling. Good luck on the research paper, because I think this is what you are doing. You are whipping up controversy in a forum where none existed in order to get quotable responses for your research.

Showoff.

Windhawk wrote: RayRo wrote: Just kidding!   I understand your message Catcher10 and will seriously think about what you have said.   That goes for Mr. Windhawk (?) too. If you feel the use of aliases is an issue, my real world name is clearly stated in my profile - there's a dropdown menu on the profile picture you see in these discussion forums that lets you see each users profile. For my sake with a link to my Facebook page if you should be more curious about who I am. Oh, and Mr. is right, the Windhawk nickname was chosen due to it being an anagram of a band I happen to like.

Oh, I have no problem with aliases. I just don't know what a "windhawk" is or how it relates to prog rock. I guess I will know in time.

I will take all that's been said to me and think about it. At least the stuff that wasn't too insulting. LOL.

RayRo wrote: Atavachron wrote: RayRo wrote: RayRo wrote:   Prog Archives is not some bigoted discussion forum, but I feel that cultural norms and practices of the 20th Century, such welcoming gays but not actually discussing the "who, what, where and why's" is what is still dominant in the 21st Century for this site.   If PA wants to welcome Gays and Lesbians, it has to show more tolerance that simply saying we're welcome. If members can't read and understand a straight forward statement like my closing paragraph then, indeed, what more is there to say? Believe me I read every word and I got the totality of it, which I think is one of the things that bothered me.   You point out PA is not some bigoted discussion forum ~ presumably like, what, Rednecks&Rifles.com ~ and then complain that isn't enough.   You want more, but then describe in vague, disappointed terms what exactly that means to you.   Those sorts of questions are what you could've posted and stimulated some interesting things rather than just pissed-off and adolescent disillusionment.   Express yourself, anticipate all, create, progress, live. I want more for the people here. Do you seriously think that these discussions ever start in a civilized manner or ever end in them as you have just ably demonstrated?   The important thing to me is to put the truth out there. If people can recognize it and change, then more power to them. If it falls on deaf ears or gets sidetracked, is there any loss?

A Person wrote: RayRo wrote: For example, there was not  a single mention of a LGBT discussion group existing in any of the peripheral Prog Archives "non music" forums. There were "threads" that discussed everything from the 2015 NFL season to a non ending "thread" on Libertarianism. But no "thread" discussing Gay and Lesbian rights and their political concerns. Why? I have considered making one before, but I haven't because I haven't wanted one enough I guess. If you'd like one feel free to make one. It won't be private, but you can always ask for mod intervention if you feel it necessary. I've personally never seen any anti-LGBT sentiment anywhere on the site, and as far as LGBT oriented posts it's just not an issue that is explicitly brought up, due to it being a heavily music oriented site. It is occasionally brought up but it's never been negative as far as I can recall. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not entirely sure what changes you would like to see on the site.

That LGBT persons have a common dialogue with each other and a possible support group setting.