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Monday, March 27, 2006 12:00 AM

If my wife dressed better, would gay guys stop hitting on me?

I'm a snappy dresser, and the other night, my wife and I were hanging out in this gay bar ...

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  • Monday, March 27, 2006 11:47 AM

    And this drives me crazy...

    "And even if, in some parallel universe, his wife's clothes actually do impact his being hit on at gay bars, since when is it okay to insist someone change their entire style just to prevent misunderstandings on the part of like 3% of the population?"

    Do the math. Add up the attendees of every Pride parade and festival across the nation. Then add to that the audience and participants at gay rodeos, the marriage equality marches, the number of married or domestic-partnered or civil-unioned couples, the number of people on board gay and lesbian cruises, the gay or lesbian parents at bake sales and soccer games, the gay men at the circuit parties and the lesbians at the Dinah Shore weekend, the protest groups, those who work for GLAAD or Lambda Legal or Stonewall Democrats any of the other hundreds of national and local gay political or advocacy groups. Then think of all the different groups and organizations and events out there you don't even know about.

    Think about all these people, all these bodies, all these individuals actually showing up and being someplace. Think about how the last March on Washington brought out one million people for just that one event. Then think about all the gays and lesbians who will seldom or never attend any of those events.

    There are approximately 300 million Americans today. You're telling me that only 3% of them are gay or lesbian? Approximately nine million people. You're telling me, essentially, that almost every single gay man or lesbian goes to, basically, at least one or more of these events every year? No.

    Now think about all the chatrooms, all the online groups, all the magazines, all the television networks, all the movies, all the car dealerships, all the bars, all the sports teams, just about anything you can think of that's dedicated to gay men or lesbians. How many gay or lesbian softball or rugby teams are there? Are you telling me that a significant percentage of the gay and lesbian population are playing softball and/or rugby? No.

    The gay and lesbian population in America is just like the non-gay and lesbian population in America, which is to say that they're mostly either at their jobs, or raising their kids, or sitting around on their asses trying to get some rest. They're not showing up. They're not at the parades, they're not playing team sports, they're not at political rallies. They're not visible.

    It's not 3%. Try 10%. It would be mathematically impossible for it to be anything less. Unless you believe that all gay and lesbian Americans spend their lives running from one gay or lesbian thing to the next, the numbers simply surpass the myth of the 3%.

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