In a society where being gay can be a problem it's hard to know for sure as people aren't necessarily going to be honest about their sexuality if they fear ridicule or worse. Gay men are not always camp and therefore why should people who aren't camp be anymore attracted to theatre than football? To what extent do gay people feel safer in certain roles or professions and therefore seek them out knowing they'll get less shit,
My daughter was at college with an intelligent doctor from Nigeria, who had done wonderful work in medicine in his country, who seriously argued we don't have gays in Nigeria, it's a western thing. Never come across anyone gay in my country. Obviously there are gay people in Nigeria it's just not safe to come out in that environment.
Human sexuality is one of the most intimate feelings we experience, on one level it should have absolutely nothing to do with politics, it's your sexuality and it is your own business, it's part of who you are, why should you need to justify or explain it to strangers? Your sexuality is personal, it's the reaction and persecution of other people to your sexuality that makes one of the most intimate personal parts of your life political, the politics comes from others reactions to what you feel as a human being.
I always find it a bit weird that in many people's eyes, gay men tend to be camp men. The reality is far, far different. Camp, gay men exist, of course, but they are a very small minority. Like the heterosexual scene; gay people come in all guises. The camp gay man is basically just a lazy stereotype, just as is the curly permed Scouser with a mustache.
Anyway, I agree with you. People tend to gravitate to places, people, professions etc where they feel most comfortable. Gay people are no different. Certain environments can be very immature and unwelcoming, so it's no surprise that some would avoid them. As a heterosexual man I'm the same. I used to work in manufacturing and labour intensive work, and although I could mix in ok I hated the laddish, childish banter culture and grew tired of it. I moved into outreach care work then counselling and found the environment so much more mature. People acted like grown-ups and treated others like grown-ups too. So yes, you gravitate to people, jobs and environments that you are more likely to feel comfortable in. I met a lot of LGBT people in care work and counselling. Maybe I met some in those other jobs, but maybe they never felt comfortable being fully themselves there?
The outlook of that doctor from Nigeria is no surprise. There are also many Muslims that will tell you there are no gay Muslims. I've heard it said many a time. The reality is that there are many, but they simply do not feel safe enough to be who they are. What these people don't realise is that being LGBT is not a western thing, it's not a Christian thing or whatever, it's a
human thing.
