Through my reading of gay history, I was amazed at the sense of commoradory or even brotherhood that homosexual men felt for one another at the turn of the 20th century. A century later, we are more visible, less ostracized, and yet we are down right hostile to each other. It seems the more society started to accept us and tone it's anger down, the more we turned on ourselves.
Maybe it is just a Buffalo phenomina, but from my conversations with other gay men from across the country, I don't think so. Gay men seem to go out of their ways to hurt another person when they get upset. Whether it be a break up or a simple falling out, they pull out all the stops to inflict as much emotional damage as they can do.
Seeing as gay communities are rather small, and with the advent of chat room such as gay.com, a lot of people know each other. When a dispute errupts between two people, it doesn't take long for everyone else to hear the saga, and start playing sides. It can even turn into a popularity contest, to see who has the most supporters, and who can turn the most people against the other. Let the backstabbing and hair pulling begin!
I've been talking with a few guys who are going through break ups, and holy shit it's unbelievable. This crap would put a soap opera to shame! Even in my own experience with the ending of friendships... it doesn't end with a simple "goodbye"... it's KILL KILL KILL... and the war never ends. People have even gone so far as to inform other guys that I am a "druggie" to help persuade them not to hang out with me. Really, it's sad.
I think we have a ways to go as a people. If we want the heterosexual community to respect us, we'd better start respecting each other.
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