Things gays should be thankful for.

Being able to understand your partner, in a way that men and women usually totally fail to do.

Not being pressured by family to get married.

R1 has it so right. I'm grateful that we can even check out the same guy and not worry about it, because as men we just get that. What would be a 2 second "he's cute"/"agreed" moment would become a huge issue in many straight relationships. I kinda take it for granted until I hear straight women talk about what annoys them with men. Plus I feel we can be much more easily open about our sexualities, and on an emotional level, I think there's something instinctive about knowing when to pull back and give space, or to jump in with support. I've heard enough women complaining about how they don't understand their man, and the thing is, the way they are going about interacting with him is all wrong.

I'm also just thankful for being attracted to men's bodies because they are amazing.

Military service.

Terra cotta pots. White chiffon.

Fag Hags

Having the same tastes and pastimes as your partner, so you both enjoy how you spend your time together. Heterosexual couples usually have to compromise and one of them ends up bored or annoyed. Gay men do not need same sex friends as much to get their needs met.

Also having the same biological needs as your partner.

Appreciating "being different". You "being different", others "being different",

No kids.

Madonna.

Doubling your wardrobe.

Often close relationships with their mothers, untainted by competitiveness.

Provided they haven't been too deeply scarred by childhood rejection or alienation, gays have a greater emotional depth because of their early experience of being different.

No gag reflex

Abundance of willing sex partners

OP is really right about birth control. Unless they take conscious steps to avoid pregnancy, ie, consistent condom use or a vasectomy, straight guys ' lives can be seriously derailed by an unwanted pregnancy. Women can choose whether or not to bear a child, but if a woman decides to carry a pregnancy to full term, the male responsible has no choice whatever.

I recall my dad giving me a big, big lecture on this subject. He need not have worried :-)

[quote] Women can choose whether or not to bear a child, but if a woman decides to carry a pregnancy to full term, the male responsible has no choice whatever.

No choice? He can refuse to be involved in the kid's upbringing to the point that the mother has to sue him to fork over alimony checks each month. He can still go on with his own life if he likes, countless times. If he's a deadbeat, he doesn't even have to pay alimony. All responsibility remains with the mother.

The same things all people should be thankful for, health, a loving family and always looking like you're 29 with a body that won't quit

Every single gay man that came before us who had the courage to come out, despite risking losing every thing that mattered - his family, his church, his job, his kids, his friends -

And I'm thankful for all of the men that fought so courageously to end the Plague (AIDS) and stand up for the entire community when it wasn't popular.

Correction - that continue to fight to end this Plague (AIDS), i meant particularly the men in the 80s for which it was a Death Sentence.

[quote] Things gays should be thankful for.

Yawn. Is it Thanksgiving already?

Something tells me that R16 is not a gay male. But I stand by what I said - if a woman with whom he has had unprotected sex becomes pregnant and decides to keep the child, a man has no choice about being a father.

R15

Coming to terms that being gay is a gift. Gay men tend to be more creative and open to new ideas as well as more perceptive of things in life others seem to miss. Appreciate things others don't see. Being genital in spirit without the need to prove oneself a man with ridiculous demonstrations of male stereotypes.

[quote] Something tells me that [R16] is not a gay male.

Not that it matters, but I am a gay male and like you, r15, I stand by what I posted.

Yes, they might be deadbeat dads, but they are dads nonetheless...

DINK

Not having to buy my date dinner before he will put out.

Partner PMS.

The jealousy of straight male friends over how easy it is to get sex. Gets them all hot and bothered.

Being genital in spirit?

The Datalounge

Marsha P. Johnson

"Women can choose whether or not to bear a child, but if a woman decides to carry a pregnancy to full term, the male responsible has no choice whatever."

If only male birth control were available! If only a man could just go to the grocery store or 7-11, and get a reliable form of birth control for a couple of bucks, without a prescription!

Seriously, gay men learned to damn well use condoms when they had to, if straight men are too spoiled to take any trouble to prevent unwanted pregnancies or unwelcome diseases, they do not have my sympathy.

[quote]Seriously, gay men learned to damn well use condoms when they had to, if straight men are too spoiled to take any trouble to prevent unwanted pregnancies or unwelcome diseases, they do not have my sympathy.

I've heard more than one straight guy say: "you don't wear a raincoat in the shower" as though this is an argument that makes sense. I always respond: "and a shower doesn't give you STDs."

Frenulums.

The option to devote a lot of time to a career and to have all the financial rewards accruing from it, which would not be possible if you had to support a family. Having kids is not the same as in the past. More than a quarter of people in a survey said they were estranged from at least one family member, so you certainly can't count on kids supporting or comforting you in your senior years. I think it's a risky investment.

Of course, straight couples are also opting not to have children, but they face family pressure that gays do not.

Big pecs that jut out.

I'll start. Not worrying about birth control.

No, we just have to worry about HIV, which can kill you

Quite big tits.

Why do you think Drake put hot sauce in his used condom r32? Obviously condoms don't stop unwanted fatherhood, if a wannabe mother is crafty and wants a baby.

Not having to say the woman is always right.

I hope I explain this right, but it's pretty cool that we get to really know women without any sexual politics coming between us, you know? We don't have that happening, so can get to know them in a deeper way, I think.

No menstruation.

The gays who came before us.

r42 But it's time to talk about it.

- Dave Foley

For me the best gift is the escape from convention/expectation.

Dating. Marrying. Having children. Living minutes away from your family in adult life. Running the kids back and forth to grandparent babysitters and knowing on a daily basis what parents and straight siblings and in-laws are doing that very day, knowing you might get one weekend out of four that doesn't involve some relative's birthday or anniversary or barbeque - intertwined family lives.

The separation of one's own life from the business of progenation and family perpetuation and involvement in every little thing is a gift. It opens the way for setting your own path and following your own interests and setting your own customs.

Coming of age before transitioning (the new and improved conversion therapy) became popular.

Our enhanced dress sense and taste in general.

Our self delusions ^

Building relationships with people we consider equals. I realise it’s much less the case now, but I don’t understand the appeal of a relationship in which your partner is your inferior or your servant Even now, it’s not unheard of for men to have considerable anger or condescension towards women.

Gays often help immigrants settle in. Okay, its also the love of uncut dick.

Grindr

Blown out mancunt

Surviving against all odds in a society designed to extinguish anyone who does not fit the heteronormative paradigm.

assless chaps!

Earrings

Caftans!!

Warm spurts of cum all over the place. Loads and loads of JIZZ!

Band name!

Financially:

Disposable income

Adult Vacations whenever and to wherever you want (not necessarily dependent on school breaks)

The "opportunity" to have an ALWAYS full time, fully employed spouse i.e no breaks for maternity or child rearing

Save money and/or retire early

Socially:

Guaranteed Sex fulfillment - Your partner never has a headache unless he has an actual "headache" and even then some kind of sex will probably happen

Freedom to date any race, culture or age (legal) you want without family interference

Companionship with someone with many similar interests and who will process things the way you do

He will GET OVER shit and not bring it up 3 years later

Time to pursue a career and other interests without the pressure to procreate

Never having to deal with PMS

Never having to listen to a nagging woman

Never having to fight someone for a woman's honor

Never having an old undesirable woman at home

Never trapped in a marriage

Weekends are yours

Lots of sex with many many men.

Cod with tomatoes and dried plums

The decline in circumcisions.

^ that's an interesting observation.

I'm thankful for everything the round-headed kid does for me.

[quote] Never having to listen to a nagging woman

I guess you've not been paying attention to the cubefrau threads over the years, huh?

Yeah, try living with one for like forever.

The glory of theater, movies, music, and show tunes.

Disco

and chapless asses!

Bottoms who douche

[quote]The glory of theater, movies, music, and show tunes.

Can you imagine polling 100 gays on "Which music are you most grateful for?"

PrEP.

ME!!!!

Pink, chiffon things.

Glitter.

Stonewall.

POSE

Beyond the obvious answers, e.g., the readily available mountains of cock and eager hole, in the 1980s I would have answered that the real advantage was that gay men and lesbians had to make choices: to come out, to consciously act on the sexuality, to decide where and how to live, to make a world for themselves apart from the standard expected paths that would have been laid out were they instead straight. They had to learn and choose and make decisions that were not fully prescribed or within a narrow range of expectation. I admired that conscious act of finding one's place by a series of choices rather than the straight model of just falling into a feathery bed of expectation as a matter of course.

That once separate process of finding one's own way is much less central to the lives of gays and lesbians, and very much for the better in most ways.

My fried chicken is better than KFC. Dip in egg batter, roll in panko, fry.

[quote]Military service.

Why?

^ Not having to sign up.

No having to ask “did you come?”

[...]

It’s hard to get this into words, exactly. There’s a streak of evangelistic Christianity that runs through part of my extended family. I don’t know them very well, down to not knowing the names of several of the younger generation, but we have a reunion each summer on some land that’s collectively owned by a few family members. When I get there, I put my giant rainbow flag up and am subsequently spared a whole lot of interactions that I don’t want anyway.

(I used to think I had to go to this thing but I’ve discovered that it really doesn’t matter to anybody if I don’t, so the weight of the chip on my shoulder has mostly sloughed off. I just go elsewhere that weekend and I usually make it a bit of a lavish treat.)

For all I know, those people don’t even particularly know who I am — I don’t really know them! — and maybe the distance between us isn’t the result of the flag announcing the uncomfortable fact that their belief system dooms one among them to Hell as a perverted unbeliever. Whatever. I do know they exemplify the kind of ignorance I abhor most, I do know some voted for Trump, and I also know that, blood aside, we are not family to each other at all. I like a few of the cousins in my generation. That’s all there is for me.

So, is all that an expression of gratitude? I don’t have to cozy up to bigots toward whom I feel no familial attachment? Guess so.

To be honest, locker rooms. I love the opportunity to see men, together, separate from women showering, changing. It's not all about sex, it can be just the titillation factor as well - it's an accepted occasion to see someone you'd normally see fully dressed out and about, completely naked. It's one of the last places men can acceptably be, absent of women.

[...]

[quote]It's not all about sex, it can be just the titillation factor

It's more about the dickillation factor.

ME-TV, Antenna TV, COZI-TV, and other retro TV channels supplying us with endless reruns of Barnaby Jones, Quincy, Murder She Wrote, Hart to Hart, Charlie's Angels, The Bonnie Franklin Show, The Fugitive, The Time Tunnel, and Cannon.

The trans women of color who have fought for millennia, many zillions laying down their very lives, so we can free*.

(*not applicable in Middle East / bits of Africa etc)

Vintage locker room dickillation:

R83 I like what you said. It is not all about sex. But I would add that I feel that way in all male only spaces. Whether it be locker rooms, sections of the gym, fraternity house (when I was in college), all male bars and clubs. It is not even necessarily about being with gay men. There is a special bond and vibe that men have when they are all together which is very different than "mixed" company. Part of it is that when women are present, they bring a whole host of issues to include men (gay and straight) doing stupid shit to impress them or stand out. I hate that.

ChristianMingle.com

Miss Warhawk Graham. Proving gays can be fierce in so many ways.

"I've Never Been to Me", by Charmaine/Charlene/Carlene/Shanice/Whatever. The DL anthem!

R92 Not so "subtle whoring" anymore. These bitches are pretty obvious!

Predacious whoring!

The Drama Book Shop.

R84, no the locker rooms I have been in aren't. I mean if you are just normally doing your thing and not sitting in a corner masturbating looking at guys, you're fine. And guys, straight or gay, like to observe, take a peek, see what another guy is working with. And then you have those beautiful unicorns who love being naked, will stay naked and walk about, who love showing off their bodies. Some men just really like having their cock out and being seen. Like the guy in R85 picture is that type. Because usually you don't get completely naked before getting dressed. At least not standing completely naked, semi-chubbed up like he is. That dude wants to be seen - and everyone can see why.

Classic Locker Room play while changing.

Having to have your fingers cut off to get rid of [italic]that[/italic] smell.

R97 That is not a straight locker room! LOL

Automatically assumed to have good taste?

Barbra, Liza, Judy, Bette - very thankful for them.

[quote] it's pretty cool that we get to really know women without any sexual politics coming between us, you know? We don't have that happening, so can get to know them in a deeper way, I think.

If you're into to that sort of thing.

Menstruation issues.