Timothy Kurek, Straight Christian Man, 'Comes Out' And Pretends To Be Gay For A Year

Have to give the guy some kudos for this.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...traight-christian-pretends-gay_n_1963657.html

 

Rather interesting, and I may even read the book.

But he's an adult doing it.

You'd really need to do that as a 6yr old, to understand everything, then 8 , 12, 15 etc

Or Article mentions proceeds go to pink homeless youth centres, give that a try, being a homeless gay teen. Not that I know myself I've never been homeless.


Its a nice idea, but doing it as an adult is like seeing what a tornado is like 10 years after its passed overhead

 

I can see the flaws. I appreciate it's not going to be 100% 'authentic'. I just think he deserves credit for doing it to such an extent. Walking a mile in another's shoes is easier said than done.

 

'they don't get to say only 12 months till i get to be me again'?

that is such bullshit. like being gay is all pain and discomfort. like it's somehow being a different human being than heterosexuals are. i love that i love guys. i wouldn't choose to be straight even if that were possible. and yeah, it isn't all flowers and moonbeams even from where i look at it, but no matter how bad it gets i'm still glad i like guys. i didn't choose this but i love this nonetheless. interesting huh? we are born what we are, and we're happy with it...

his experiment isn't authentic. it's about as authentic as it would be if i up and lived as a straight guy for a year. it would be just as uncomfortable for me as this surely was for him. i would have to count weeks, months too till i got to be me again.

it's a nice gesture, i do give him that. but i was never one much impressed by gestures anyway.

 

What did he mean by 'lived as a gay man'? Did he have gay sex? If so I doubt very much it was 100% an act. If not he's no idea what he's talking about.
Another meaningless gesture apart from donating the proceeds of the book?

 

Remember BLACK LIKE ME? Same deal ,only black experiences.

 

No, he did not have gay sex. I think he wanted to experience what his friends and family would do/say and the prejudices he would encounter. He does not have to have had gay sex to find that out.

 

I still assert he didn't know what he was talking about. Did he now how it felt to be deaply in love with another man and have to face the inevitable day when he had to introduce him to his family, friends and (God forgbid!) congregation?

 

It was never going to be a 100% experience. However, just 'coming out' must have made him realise the prejudices gay people face first hand. He certainly achieved a better understanding than I have as a straight man trying to be empathetic with how gay people feel.

 

The dude is trying to remove the hate from his heart. That in itself is a major accomplishment. Of course he doesn't know what it's really like to be you. Do you really know what it's like to be me? To walk the path I've walked? We all have hardships. What have you done to better understand the troubles of another? Troubles that you couldn't possibly grasp in an authentic way....

 

Fair enough but not far enough?
I'm wandering off topic here but your saying "He certainly achieved a better understanding than I have as a straight man trying to be empathetic with how gay people feel.' Has me realising there are some things straight men have to put up with I never understand. Putting aside for now my possibly misguided perception that all hetro women use emotional blackmail to control their male partners, I can never understand how men allow women to become totally dictatorial inside their nest. A specific instance is one that haunts the audio industry for instance. "No, you're not putting that horrible looking amplifier thing in my living room". That and the fact that straight males will allow themselves to be burried alive in 'her' bedroom she's decorated to look like the inside of a prissy jewellery box. It all passes my understanding.

 

Mission accomplished, imho.

 

Point taken but I'm not going to list 'what I've done to better understand the troubles of another'. That would be a self congratulatory ego trip.

 

I guess most of the time females have dominance with regards to what the bedroom looks like. I suspect men go along with it because they will be having sex there. If the furniture does not put them off- it's ok. It's a small price to pay for a quiet life...and sex.

 

Exactly. Plus very few people are willing to walk the walk - even if it's just for a block or two. Still, I think if the experience helped the author to have a better understanding of what it's like to be GLBT in a straight world (especially when it comes to how so many Christians seem to feel that homosexuality is an automatic ticket to hell), then what he did was a good thing, albeit somewhat naive. I'd be curious to read the book. :sunny:

QP

 

I suppose we can give the man a pat on the back for putting himself in other's shoes, if only partially. He would however miss out on knowing how it felt to be in love with another man. This needs drawing attention to if only for the reason that all fundamentalist religions appear to believe gay relationships are a filthy, sinful choice. They never face the quandry of what it might mean to actually fall in love with someone of the same sex. Their focus on 'choice' tells us something else, and not about gays, but about themselves. If they sincerely believe one can choose to have homosexual relations what does that tells us about their own repressed sexuality?

 

If they are overly fascinated with gays,they are probably picturing in their mind what goes on in their bedrooms,which makes me think they are OVERLY interesed in that aspect and probably are unconciously desiring to find out first hand. "methinks he doth protesteth too much". Think that's how it goes.

 

There's a significant body of psychiatric research telling us the type of male who joins gangs for the purpose of fag bashing are suppressing a strong urge to practice what they claim to hate. A psychiatrist friend I spoke to recently about this tells me these people are often very difficult to treat.
Personally I've noticed men who arent' afraid of physical contact with me, such as the odd affectionate hug, even after they learn I'm gay are invariably comfortable in their heterosexuality and hardly ever show any tendency to 'cross over'.

 

This post sort of reminds me of a reporter in Chicago that decided to "live" on the streets the week before Christmas. Because I have been homeless in the past (for three years) I thought there was no way he could totally understand what it's like to be homeless.

But he ended up talking about his experience on television, and I have to say that he sounded genuine and convincing. I mean, it gets really cold in Chicago during the winter. And he wasn't able to get into any of the shelters. So he took a huge risk. Several homeless people freeze to death every year in The Windy City. But he lived to tell the tale. And I'm okay with that. :sunny:

QP