are you a friend of dorothy?

so...im doing something different today. i am taking a request to write a blog on a particular subject. this is the letter i received...

"i was at the gym and i was listening to this woman speaking behind me and
when i turned and looked, it was this gay guy. Now do you remember we talked
about how gay guys talk? Why do they talk like that? they dont learn it from
their parents. and they dont learn it in school. its not a regional dialect.
they usually start young, so its not from hanging with a bunch of quee...gay
people...what are your thoughts? can you blog about that?"

ok...some background on the person who wrote this to me.

this is a very dear friend of mine from college. it was freshman year, and i was the first person he "came out" to. he was nervous and shaking and crying. the thing is....we all knew he was gay. he wasnt outwardly effeminate, (yeah...i know...generalization)...but we just knew. i was so happy he felt comfortable confiding in me, and doubly happy that he was able to be who he is, and acknowledge it. he was so excited to have a friend to talk about all of his feelings with. he was so eager to take me to the clubs he was going to, and meet the people he was hanging out with, and show me a bit of his life that he kept secretly hidden from us. and this started my foray into the gay scene.

i love gay people. i just do. as a matter of fact; the thing im probably missing most in my life, (other than my ovaries) is my lack of gay friends. i miss my gay life. no...im not gay. (but does it count that my parents actually asked me once if i was gay?) yeah...i tried to explain that being a loser without a boyfriend doesnt necessarily make you a lesbian. which is a good thing, because allegedly i wouldnt have done any better as a lesbian. years and years ago...when i asked my lesbian friend, as we were sitting in a lesbian coffee shop; why no girls ever tried hitting on me, she told me it was very obvious that i was straight. really? it was? hmmm. good thing im not a lesbian....cuz i would have been a loser lesbian without a girlfriend. but since i wasnt, never was, or had any desire to be a lesbian...i was just a very heterosexual loser without a boyfriend. and just for the record to my mom and dad....if i were gay....id have no problem with it. id be chanting loud and clear, "were here! were queer! get used to us!" (oh...and also.....just to give kudos to my parents....when they seriously questioned my sexuality, and i laughed, they did say that they would be accepting of it. yay mom and dad!) anyway....back to my point. im not gay, but i certainly have done my fair share of living the lifestyle. i guess it comes with the art degree and fashion design school. and lets throw living in west hollywood into the mix too.

so, back to the question at hand. why do gay men speak in that certain effeminate accent? hmmm...i still cant figure that one out. im sorry....i just dont know the answer! as far as i know...there is no school or academy to teach gay mannerisms. but this is just one of the many things i dont know the answer to. there are many things i question about the gay community. like, why do gay men want to be more like women, while the lesbians want to be more masculine? (yeah...i know......there are "lipstick lesbians" too. im just generalizing here.)

so, since i cant answer the question....i figured id throw some more speculation into the fire. why is it...that the gay community wants to be accepted as "mainstream" and will preach that they are just like everybody else; and want equal rights...because their lifestyle isnt any different than a heterosexual lifestyle...and meanwhile...they will dress like this....???

i dunno. is this mainstream? of course the gay community deserves equal treatment; just as everybody deserves equality. and dont get me wrong. i LOVE this! ive been to many gay pride parades and gay halloween parades. i L O V E it. and personally...i prefer my gays to be flaming queens like this than the gays who just "want to fit in" with the "mainstream" community. (however...i am an equal opportunity gay lover.) but it does crack me up...because i can just picture my husband dressed like this for a parade! (NOT!)

and by the way...this point was made to me by one of my gay friends. it was his observation...not mine. i assure you...i am in no way criticizing any of this. i promise...no gays were hurt in the writing of this post.

so...does anyone out there have any knowledge, comments or opinions about this? anyone...anyone? bueller? toto?