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How To Tell If Someone Is Gay Or Straight
Homosexuality is now much more out in the open than ever before, but it can still be difficult to tell if someone is gay or straight. Our film will teach you some handy techniques for honing your 'gaydar'.
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Step 1:
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Why do you want to know?
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You may be interested in finding out someone's sexuality because you are attracted to them. Finding out whether someone likes men or women before trying to chat them up will help you avoid potential embarrassment! If you are gay yourself you may also want to find out if someone is accepting of homosexuality and would be supportive if you came out to them.
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Step 2:
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Don't make assumptions
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One can't always tell who is gay by the way they dress, walk, talk etc as these simplistic assumptions play into stereotypes. There are after all, camp straight men with fabulous dress sense and there are blokey gay guys who douse themselves in Lynx and think farting is funny!
Gay men and lesbians are increasingly becoming involved in parenting - either from former straight relationships or through AID or informal arrangements and so their mentioning kids may not mean they are straight.
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Step 3:
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Using conversation to find out
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Lesbians and gay men are often more cautious in revealing personal information, they may not use a pronoun for a partner, they may be more vague about what they do with their time. This self-censoring is a way of protecting themselves from possible rejection and anti-gay abuse/discrimination.
Ask questions like:
What did you do at the weekend?
What are your plans for the weekend?
I've been trying to find a good pub/club to go out to. Do you have any recommendations?
Do you live alone?
Do you have a partner? What do they do for a living?
What did you get up to last night? And the ever so reliable - "Do you like men, women or both?"
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