hmmm, someone brought up an intersesting angle for me.
I will be absolutely honest. When I was much younger, my family was out on a family outing. We visited the point Benitia lighthouse, and in the line to the structure, just ahead of us were two men holding hands, and talking to one another. At that time I had no idea what a "gay" was, but I could see these two were upsetting my dad, and to an extent, my mother. Not too far from those two men, was a man and a woman, also holding hands, and were acting much the same as the two men.
I noticed how my parents had no problems with these two, but how under his breath my dad was calling the two men "disgusting".
Well, when we got back in the car, he let loose. "How dare those two faggots do that in public in front of my son!!!" He yelled this to my mom, who just remained silent. "They don't need to do that outside their sick bedroom!! They should have been arrested" Then silly me piped up "but dad, there were a lady and man acting the same way" His response "THAT'S DIFFERENT!!!! Those two freaks should not be doing that outside, they should keep it in the closet, or better yet die!!!"
My memory is blurry of the actual conversation, mixed in is the kinda crap my dad spewed when he was angry about people he did not like, but the overall gist is there. He felt that those two men should keep things "in the closet" a term I did not understand at the time. I later learned that MANY gay couples keep their love "in the closet" and like some here felt no need to get out. I will need to do some research, but I think many of the arguments favoring being in the closet echo what is being stated here concerning us. I may be mistaken but the ones that were out of the closet viewed those that were deeply in the closet as something bad when it comes to gays gaining their freedoms.
This may be at least for me where I get the thought process that those in the closet don't help anyone. It is a bit harsh and I am backing off of that stance and am doing more thinking on the matter. Recalling this ugly piece of my history has opened more areas of thought when it comes to why I think the way I do.
Sadly, for a while, my dad's views rubbed off on me, and I felt gay couples should keep it in the closet (for approximately two years I thought this way)
