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The Stranger Helps You Be a Gay Person

Malaika

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Malaika's Team Pick:

If you're anything like I am, half the time you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. Yes, I'm in my twenties, but I still don't have this adulthood thing figured out. Do you? You guys, I'm a child in disguise. But can you blame me? The demands of adulthood are tough. There are days when I envy my dogs who don't have to worry about paying their bills, graduating from university, and answering emails. Let's face it: this being a person thing is pretty challenging, and unfortunately being a gay person further complicates things. Thankfully, The Stranger is here to reach out from Youtube, give you a metaphoric hug, and teach you everything important about being a bi-ped, carbon-based, oxygen-breathing being. In Chapter 4.3 of Dan Savage and Lindy West's How to Be a Person: The Stranger's Guide to College, you're taught how to feel less alone and even given coming out tips.

Do you sometimes find yourself alone in your kitchen with only some unwashed dishes and fruitflies to keep you company, wishing instead that you were at A-Camp surrounded by the queer community's sexiest and most intelligent ladies? Well, don't you dare resort to moping. Honey, you've got the gay community buzzing in your ears. As you'll learn in the well-researched and highly scientific Episode 4.3, fruitflies are gay. The reason for this is that "if you're only alive for one day, you might as well be gay." Fruitflies may not have the same level of brains and hots as myself and the other Autostraddle team members, but hey, appreciate the gay you've got.

In addition to fruitflies, there are also gay killer whales, gay bees, gay bison, gay dolphins, and gay cats (duh) among other creatures all great and small. When you come out, know that you're in good mammalian, reptilian, and arthropodian company. Speaking of coming out, The Stranger tell you how the best way to do it. In real life, coming out may be scary. It may not go smoothly. You may lose friends and even get kicked out of your house. Good thing you can escape into the perfect queer life of Chapter 4.3 in which everyone loves you and heck, even the mosquitoes are probably a part of the big rainbow family.

If even after watching this video and studioulsy reading Autostraddle's articles telling you how to make food, how to get organized, and how to have sex, you still need help with this whole being a person concept, maybe you should buy the entire How to Be a Person book.

From one person to another, I wish you good luck. And remember - don't hate on the fruitflies. They only get to be here and queer for a day.

28 responses to “The Stranger Helps You Be a Gay Person”

  1. ikkjofiwjeoifjs

    From one person to another, I wish you good luck. And remember – don’t hate on the fruitflies. They only get to be here and queer for a day.

    Thumb up 2
  2. Hannah

    “If you’re only alive for one day, you might as well be gay.” Haha that’s perfect!

    Thumb up 6
  3. Marika

    They actually live for about a month (biologists ruin EVERYTHING with literalism)

    Thumb up 8
    1. Paramecium

      I know in lab conditions, ours usually survived up to 60 days if not longer. And here I am, continuing to ruin everything with literalism. It’s like a knee-jerk reaction, I swear!

      Thumb up 4
      1. maro

        I’m weirdly ok that I find this attractive. Yay biology!

        Thumb up 0
    2. MB

      The scientist contingent always comments what I was thinking!

      Thumb up 0
    3. Lovely Llama

      I was thinking/am always doing the same thing. Attack biologists!

      Thumb up 0
  4. Caitlyn

    This makes me happy bc a lot of gay men that I’ve hung round often in NYC have called me “fruit fly,” in a very endearing way and I really like it. Esp opposed to the other shall not be named name for a girl that hangs around a bunch of gay men often.

    That said I’m still kinda on the fence with Dan Savage. I like to think he means well but — I dunno. So many things he’s said have rubbed me the wrong way. I know that it’s impossible to be perfect and I don’t expect that, but something about how he presents things to be so black and white sometimes (with no grey area) irks me.

    However — I am down for anything positive and self affirming by anyone and always willing to give somethign a chance so I may look into that book for knowledge sake.

    TBH – Autostraddle > Dan Savage. Truth, not flattery. =D

    Thumb up 8
  5. e66a

    For a related and super fun piece of work, see http://chronos-tachyon.net/mirror/io.com/
    how to be come out to in a graceful manner. Send it to your friends.

    Thumb up 1
    1. GV

      Oh God this is hilarious! And full of good advice too (and a couple of problematic statements/things, but apparently this was written in the 90s so).
      I just want to print a bunch of them and hand it over to everyone I know and maybe slip it in a bunch of random mailboxes too.

      Thumb up 1
  6. Aisis

    Lol, love the video… it just made me think… what if heteros have to come out to a gay world???

    Thumb up 1
  7. Lone Wolf

    Massive yes to coming out in the car. I don’t think I could have come out to my mum any other way.

    Thumb up 1
  8. Paloma

    I am so Dutch, I came out to my mum while we were both on bikes.

    Wow! Thumb up 24
  9. Ali

    Omg, Malaika. I don’t have adulthood figured out yet either! When/if you find yourself in New York, we should have a slumber party and watch Mean Girls and also read this book and maybe figure out how to be adults. :0)

    Thumb up 1
    1. Mollie

      Greatest pick up line ever? I think so!

      Thumb up 0
  10. Ally

    That’s not true, though, is it? The last part about how people who are really worth your time won’t give a fuck about whether or not you’re gay. No one can tell you that your parents, who might be homophobic, aren’t worth your time. That’s bull.

    Thumb up 2
  11. A Born Nyan Cat

    … I keep dissappearing and then logging back on to see the bestest articles ev4r.

    Thumb up 0
  12. Aisis

    Everybody needs to come out all in one day… a global pride day…

    Thumb up 0
  13. Kate B

    In my high school, the one rule we always gave kids who were trying to come out of the closet was “never come out in the car.” Huh.

    Thumb up 0
  14. Katie

    Yeah, sorry, but I don’t think this video has anything particularly substantive to say about coming out, if their advice is “come out in a car,” and “don’t worry, everyone will accept you.” Have the filmmakers been to the real world lately?

    Thumb up 0
  15. Felicia

    THIS IS MY FUCKING COMING OUT STORY. Shit is crazy.

    Thumb up 0
  16. Paper0Flowers

    I would think coming out in the car is the worst timing, ever. So did my mom, who (unnecessarily) pressured me for a week to tell my dad except she forbade me from doing it in the car because he probably would’ve caused an accident.

    Thumb up 0
  17. ariadne

    the car (while parked) worked for me, but then the whole “you don’t have to do anything else” is so untrue. i tried, and then it was awkward weeks before my mom or i mentioned anything about it again.

    Thumb up 0
  18. Maverick

    I don’t really have a coming out story. Did I do it wrong?
    Jeeze. Being gay is so hard.

    Thumb up 0

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