It’s good to know I am ‘supercool’, not that there was any doubt 
Mate, you attained that status when you stood next to me at match days, and that was not the only benefit.
Next to me, you either looked like a fucking leviathan of a man or someone unwisely taking his Yorkshire Terrier to Premier League football.
Both are good looks.
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‘Attained’? Pffft, at the very least perpetuated or consolodated.
Mate, in Sotonians terms you were hanging around with Vito Corleone in the good old days before he shot all of his friends 
Ah gotcha in Sotonians terms, I was coming at it from a ‘history of the human race’ angle 
What, something like this?
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Returning briefly to the discussion on people coming out not being an earth-shattering thing, that whole process has been exploited time and again.
Kevin Spacey came out as gay after it emerged that he’d been allegedly been involved in misconduct with men and boys and his power.
I would argue that a white haired TV presenter dropped the coming out bomb before too much juvenile gopher shrapnel was found up his arse.
Private Eye weren’t quite as circumspect about that as you’re being. I never thought you’d out-coy them. 
I haven’t got their legal funds
You won’t be commenting on the grandma’s favourite taking a trip down Savile Row in search of nubile teenage man flesh then? And dumping him like a used condom when he wore him out? 
I’m sure that trip to Savile Row was just about the grooming.
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That’s a series of straw men right there.
So what if coming out in Iran is tougher? Doesn’t make it not tough for some people to come out in the UK.
So what if you can get ostracised by your parents for many different things? Doesn’t mean that you can’t get ostracised for being gay and therefore that coming out is quite a brave move for some people.
So what if ‘wider society’ is more tolerant nowadays? Many people won’t take any comfort in that because, rightly or wrongly, they want to be part of their own family, not some random stranger’s.
I have a gay nephew and he says his religious parents have never come to terms with his “lifestyle choice”.
“If only were a lifestyle choice,” he says, “it would be so much easier, I wouldn’t be gay”
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Eighty years ago gay people were subjected to electro-shock therapy by the state.
The straw man, if there is one, is making out like this is still a big problem in the UK.
Bigots gonna bigot. I don’t really speak to the bigots in my family because they’re, well, bigoted cunts.
It’s not up to you to decide whether it’s a problem for some people or not.
The ‘80 years ago’ argument is another straw man. Just because it was harder then doesn’t make it not hard for some people now.
Lucky you that your parents or very close loved ones aren’t bigots. Many people aren’t so lucky. Nor are they lucky enough not to get the shit kicked out of them by strangers just for being gay. I know at least two people who that’s happened to.
Maybe your social circle isn’t as broad and diverse as you think.
You’re making a lot of assumptions based on very limited experience, as is always the case when people start imagining things in lieu of facts.
As I said before, homosexuality is not the only game in town for getting ostracised. Around 12% of the country would still have serious issues with their children marrying outside their race.
When I went to school, being gay was something to be mocked. When my kids went to school, being gay was cool.
Now I’m sorry, but there are people out there with far bigger crosses to bear than batting for the other side. Perhaps Australia is a different experience than the UK; I hear that folk are generally more bigoted there.
Here? The change has been massive, on record and anecdotally.
If you’re having issues coming out in 2021, it’s not because you’re gay. It’s because you’re surrounded by fucking troglodytes.
I’m making assumptions based on limited experience?! Jesus wept. I remember why I stopped posting here now.
I’ll leave you to your echo chamber.
Yeah, if you’re presuming that my family hasn’t got any bigots in it. I’ve got two cousins who are gay. One of them is around my age, and got dogs abuse from people who really should have known better.
The other lad is my brother’s age.
The eldest got called a feminised version of his name by the more idiotic males in the clan. It was fucking horrific.
Only the most old-fashioned bat an eyelid over the youngest now, and he’s never been given shit over it.
It’s a difference of 14 years.
I’m really not sure where your hostility is coming from. This is a discussion forum. People will advance their points of view. They may well differ from yours. If that’s a problem, that’ll be carried to whichever site you grace.
OK, maybe I will post again…
I’m not hostile, I’m exasperated. I never presumed you didn’t have any bigots in your family - you’ve already said you do, so there’s nothing to discuss there. But your experience of the bigots in your family does not equal exhaustive knowledge of every individuals’ experiences of their families, or friends, or acquaintances, or strangers they meet.
The fact is you only have a theoretical grasp of being gay in the modern world plus one or two (or even three) anecdotal experiences.
My argument was only ever that people who aren’t gay are in no place to tell people who are whether it’s easy, hard or indifferent to come out. It’s not up to them to decide that.
Then you started saying loads of weird stuff about Iran, Australia (whatever that’s got to do with anything), the state of play 80 years ago, and mixed heritage couples, which is irrelevant to the point that I was making.
I’m not telling anyone anything.
Nothing I’m saying is revolutionary, or in conflict with your stated objections. I’m not going to write a “friend to gays” CV because frankly, I don’t need to.
The people on here who actually know my business know the score.
To re-iterate, I’m not telling anyone what to do, and even if were, who’d fucking listen?