This thread is my musing on Gendermutt's very valid concerns about the dangers of revealing oneself in a violently-prejudiced society.
In England there's a gay village, an area of manchester (see http://www.canal-st.co.uk/ ), where the annual 3-day TG event "Sparkle" happens. This is considered a safe zone. And it has gotten me thinking. When I lived in France I went native, spoke the lingo and was accepted, but I noticed that most expats lived in concentrated zones together. I notice the same mostly in England, too with immigrant communities living in one area together. They display the "safety in numbers" attributes of a society in fear of discriminatory predators.
I have long considered, that like the ghettoes of Europe in WWII, this segregated clustering and internal positive discrimination actually brings on worse prejudice as a result of a lack of mixing.
So this is the CD dilemma; 1. to cluster into safe communities, but risk wider dangers, 2. to closet alone, 3. to be out and about mixing in a potentially hostile environment. In reality this is the world of every minority. My perception has been that the minority's fear brings on the predator's attack. Having said that, zebras do not walk alone among lions. If one is careful of where lions hang out one can be out and about, but a herd might just attract more lions.