Is It Hard for a Gay Guy to be Straight?

This question, worded exactly as written, "Is it hard for a gay guy to be straight?" was entered into a search engine and landed on this blog.

I have written many posts over time about being gay, yet behaving in a masculine manner which some gay men call "acting straight."  I am not an actor. I behave the way I do because that's who I am.  I know there are some gay men who "butch up" on occasion -- to act "more straight" in certain situations.  I am not like those guys. I am who I am.

Meanwhile, back to the question -- my answer is, "yes, it's damn hard -- impossible -- for a gay guy to 'be' straight."   If you're gay, you're gay -- homosexual -- attracted to the same sex.  If you're straight, then you are heterosexual and attracted to the opposite sex. 

Contrary to what some Bible-thumping wackos affiliated with some fringe groups think or say, it is not possible for a guy who is truly homosexual to be or become straight.  Just doesn't work.  Won't happen.  Expose the gay guy to fringe-wacko therapy to try to convince him not to "be" gay, and likely the gay guy will be ripe for long-term therapy to recover from such exposure and to regain his sanity.  Seriously -- it's that bad, and that detrimental.

But perhaps that is not what the writer of the question was asking.  Perhaps he was asking, "is it hard for a gay guy to 'act' straight?"  In that case, it's different.  For some of us (gay men), it is not difficult to behave like straight guys do, because that is how we are and how we are wired.  But for the gay man who is effeminate, it will likely be harder for him to behave in a masculine manner.  I won't delve into stereotypes. Let me just say that I know some gay guys who could pull it off and some who could not.  We're all different. 

But let me reaffirm my understanding from science that if a guy is gay, he was born that way.  He did not "choose a lifestyle."  Heck, when did you "choose to be straight?"  It just doesn't work that way.  You're gay, you're gay.  You're straight, you're straight.  So be it.  How you behave is often what others use to judge whether you are (or are not) gay.  It's sad that people make these judgments, but they do.

My advice:  be who you are; be comfortable in your own skin; keep thinking that you are a valuable person and other people's opinions of your behavior are their problem, not yours.  I know that is hard to accept by some people, but let me affirm:  once you achieve this level of self-awareness, then a "whole new you" is revealed. For me, it was a man who was confident, self-assured, and calm. 

Final thought on the question -- is it hard for a gay guy to "be" straight?  Yes.  It is hard for a gay man to "be" comfortable with himself if he continues to live in the closet and hide his sexual identity from himself, his family, and his friends.  I know there are reasons why gay men do that, which have a lot to do with keeping a job in many cases and self-preservation in others.

But it is far more difficult for a gay guy to "be" something he is not. 

Life is short:  be who you are.