[Scott]

Why are so many deaf men gay? Is it something genetic connected with the disability? Or does it come from early experiences at boarding schools for the deaf?

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Name : Scott, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 46, City : Denver, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : Editor, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[bj tillman]

As a hearing gay male I can't speak for non-hearing gay males. However, in my experience, there does seem to be a large number of deaf or hearing-challenged gay men. Guess I need to learn sign language!

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Name : bj tillman, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 35, City : philadelphia, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : Technical, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Vail]

I've never heard that one (no pun intended). I can't imagine such a thing would have to do with school, since many famous products of British boarding schools have not, to my knowledge, turned out to be gay, despite the stories any of them have related about life in those institutions. Since deafness is not genetic, that blows that idea. Are there so many gay deaf men, or are these just the deaf men who have stuck in your memory? Do you know for a fact they are even gay? Is it just the demographics of Denver? Is there a large gay community there? Are deaf people less affected by the altitude of the Mile High City?

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Name : Vail, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Mutt, Religion : Atheist, Age : 40, City : Philly, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Johnny29354]

I am a gay, hearing person who knows ASL and knows many gay deaf men. It sometimes seems like a higher percentage of deaf men are gay, but I think the real rate of gayness is fairly even across hearing and deaf men. I can think of a couple reasons why it would look like more deaf men are gay:

1. Deaf culture is less homophobic than hearing culture, so gay deaf men come out at a higher rate than hearing men, while more hearing men (like the governor of New Jersey) hide in the closet.

2.Straight deaf people associate mostly with other deaf people, while gay deaf men go to gay bars that are predominantly hearing (as there are fewer gay deaf people and they need to date hearing men sometimes). So, if you go to a straight bar, you will seldom run into a deaf person, but if you go to a gay bar, you will often see deaf men.

Finally, there is no scientific evidence to suggest in any way that boys 'become' gay through childhood experiences, and the assumption that gay people are flawed straights is insulting.

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Name : Johnny29354, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Occupation : graduate student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Janet]

How many is 'many'? Have you made a study across the world, or the United States? I have been married to a man for 50 years who had scarlet fever twice when he was 12, leaving him about 80 percent deaf. We have three sons, and he (my husband) is definitely not gay. I would be curious as to how you calculated this.

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Name : Janet, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 69, City : Lake Worth, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : retired OP Telephone Engineer, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Dave]

I have a lot of gay friends, and not one is deaf. I could imagine deafness to be an advantage if you don't like Bette Midler or Broadway showtunes, but all kidding aside, I fail to see the connection. Also, it seems much rarer nowadays for deaf people to be sent to boarding schools. Most deaf students I've met opted to attend public schools with an interpreter. Overall, I'd consider your question to be a non-sequitur if I have ever seen one.

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Name : Dave, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Religiously Undecided, Age : 26, City : Huntington, State : WV Country : United States, 

[Brian23052]

I am neither deaf nor gay but have a friend who considers himself 'formerly gay.' I would suspect that a feeling of social isolation is a large contributing factor.

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Name : Brian23052, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 29, City : Bloomfield Township, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Erik]

They aren't deaf, they are ignoring you. Seriously, I have never seen any evidence of a higher percentage of gays who are deaf than of straights who are deaf.

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Name : Erik, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 34, City : Hilton Head, State : SC Country : United States, Occupation : server, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[D. Boyd]

I am not deaf, but I work with the deaf community. I have found that the proportion of gay/straight men is about the same as in the hearing world. No difference. There may be a reason that you are seeing or meeting more deaf gay guys. You may have a window into a subculture of gay deaf, but subculture it definitely is.

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Name : D. Boyd, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : Black/African American, Age : 38, City : Metro Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Interpreter, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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