[Robb Wharton]

In this situation, what I have felt is that I already know, or think I know, a co-worker and already have built up a level of respect, trust, dependence and the ike for that individual. I am now told something that is pretty personal, and a somewhat touchy subject in the workplace. Not to say that you should not bring up the topic. It is your right.

But what happens in the mind of the receiver is fear. Fear that we are going to say something stupid. We often do. You obviously experienced that. Fear that we might look or act around you differently, even though deep down we know how absolutely asinine it is to do so. Fear of our own sexuality. Believe it or not, there are a lot of confused folks out here who say they are straight but don’t even feel comfortable talking about sex at all. Fear of your sexuality. Will my co-worker turn me gay with their gay vibe? (Laugh here.) This is where ignorance comes in. People are still under the impression that being gay is a choice like picking out a new suit, and that one day they will wake up and, through your gay influence, will want to try on that new suit and it will look great. Fear of losing your respect, trust, dependence and the like if we think that you think we are showing any of the above-listed fears.

All of the above hits us, at once, the second you say you’re gay, and it scares the sh** out of us that something is going to change between us. We know that it won’t. We fear that it might. So the only words of confirmation that everything is still the same between us with this new piece of data about you is, ‘That’s OK’ or ‘I don’t mind’ or ‘It doesn’t bother me.’

We are all human. Fallible at birth. Stupid till death.

User Detail :  

Name : Robb Wharton, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 31, City : Cockeysville, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : System Enginer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Author]

Posts