Relationships with Men in your lives...

[TX-Beau]

I'm my Dad's favorite kid. My Grandpa is a great guy I get along fine with. Really good relationship with one brother, standard probably with the others. Still good friends with the straight guys who were my best friends growing up.

This theory is a child of the same period as the "domineering mother," foolishness. An attempt by inherently prejudiced (but possibly well meaning) people trying to explain the "aberration," they thought being gay was.

In reality, homosexuality is as common and as old as humanity, in every culture at every time there it is, just another part of human sexuality - and our relationships with our "role models," both male and female are not what "made" us gay.

 

[Just_Believe18]

There's always this question out there about how gay guys relate to other (straight) men, and whether their childhoods featured an absentee or disapproving male figure, like a father or grandfather or brother. Would you say the development of your sexuality was affected at an early age by a lack of connection with males in any way?

It'd be interesting to hear your perspective on this, since it seems to come up regularly. I'm not trying to suggest that this is true for all gay men - just looking to hear about whether anyone thinks their attraction to men stemmed in part from seeking approval from men.

Absolutely not. I come from a home with a mother and a father and my dad has always been a close and important figure in my life. My whole life has been one where most of my bonds and friendships have just been with males. It's kind of a sausage fest with the people in my life.

 

[raskdog]

I was born gay. Any other explanation would mean I turned gay. I think the role males played in our early lives might have something to do with the kind of guys we are attracted to, the same way it might play a role in how straight females pick boyfriends and partners.

I agree with this. My father and I had a quite distant relationship. We didn't argue but then again we never really talked in order to argue. I am attracted to older men. I definitely don't think I am gay because of my relationship with my father(my nephews have had much more dysfuntional relationships with their fathers and are totally straight). However I think that my distant relationship with my father made me attracted to older men.