Chalchalero
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So guys I ask here if you have some suggestions because this is a topic I never though I had to deal with; by that I mean that I always kept divided my "gay" life with school or so, unless lately for a classmate with i became friends with and I told him about me.
So a couple of weeks ago I went to this gay party not far from home; on the next monday a classmate asked me what I did on weekend and I lied about the place I've been but i said i was out to disco.. this was a bad idea because he kept saying "it seems to me I saw you, you were wearing bla bla" and I told him it could not be me, he was confusing me with someone else... anyway it's for sure he told another classmate who then continuously asked "ah really, you were (the place i said I've been)?" and now sometimes comes up asking questions (like today, we were presenting projects of different architets and he asked me again where i was that saturday and then "ain't it hot this one architect? do you like him?" and other crazy questions).
Now I'm a bit confused and don't know what to do... I mean I am not willing to let anyone know about me, as i said i always kept this part of me untold... I mean in the whole class not everyone knows or cares... I also know the second guy is really stupid and careless as he also was pulling the leg of other people and acting sometimes very childish (he's 22 by the way).
On the other hand I wanted to speak with the guy who apparently saw me... Why was he at a gay party in a place usually closed to public? (it was a disco but it is now used just for special events > He could not be there by mistake). Why did he felt right to speak with other people? The problem is that I am not sure he will be comprehensive, I fear that speaking with him will let the situation go even worse by confirming I was there...
I know I should ignore the comments, in fact they are poor guys if need to make some kind of comments, isn't it? But I am not the type, I like taking position (no pun intended!) even when the discussions in class are based on racism (lots of people in my class hate black guys and so on)... And I don't want to be the one being submitted to these people. I just don't know how to do it.... And I remember well last week when we were in lyon, france for a trip and while we were on the bus a gay couple was walking by the street and kissed... i remember the hateful comments of lots of my classmates and this is sooo bad!
help please!
As someone who lives part of the year in Switzerland (and I have been to Lugano and love it there!), I have to say that I am surprised that you are going through this there. I have witnessed several gay tourists who visit there, as well as the general fact that many entertainers and celebrities (many of whom, I would imagine, are also gay) flock there all of the time. (It is why Lugano is called the Svizzera Monte-Carlo). I frankly expected a more open-minded attitude from the younger generation there.
That being said, my advice to you would be to address the issue. I have found in my experience that these controversies do not die but rather go sotto terra as it were and people simply begin reaching their own conclusions about you, but rather behind your back and without your necessarily becoming aware of it until too late.
Your not responding will not stop them speaking. I would therefore address the issue with the person who is causing all of the trouble in the first place. As you yourself stated, what was he doing there himself, right? I would imagine that he has just as much to lose as you seem to feel that you do, if he were to be "outed" as having been to that disco, so he will have to keep any conversation you have with him quiet and between the two of you. It also would not hurt for you to simply ask him to keep it between the two of you. The direct approach works far better and in far more cases than sometimes we like to give it credit for.
Anyway, I believe that if you were to discuss the events which transpired in an open and honest fashion, you might be able to nip this in the bud, as it were.
As a postscript, the racism you describe amongst your classmates surprises me as well, as I really assumed that younger people were more liberal and open-minded. They seem so in Genève, at least...
I was in Switzerland during the 2007 Swiss Federal Council election and remember with horror the SVP/UDC "Black Sheep" campaign posters, so racism amongst the right wing elements of the Swiss does not surprise me. I just thought the young would be impervious to such populist drivel. Sadly, it appears that I am wrong...






















