A reader writes:
Regarding your post on "fag hags," is there a straight man's equivalent? In my case, I am about as straight as they get, but I find heterosexual men extremely boring to converse with. On the other hand, I absolutely love spending time with gay guys.
When my wife and I have married couples over and we get to the moment in which the wives break off into conversation and I am left alone with the man, we have almost nothing to say to each other. I hate sports, but even if we have a common interest - a TV show, a book, business - I find that the heterosexual man will talk it into the ground and my eyes doth glazeth over.
When we have a gay couple over for dinner, though, it's a par-tay. We all four talk together about everything from movies to vacations, places we'd like to visit, work, politics, whatever - sort of free-range conversation that keeps my interest going throughout the evening. I think even your blog is an extension of my love of gay guys - it's the quintessential random, eclectic, funky, rambling, erudite kind of chatter of the delightful gay dinner guest.
Another writes:
Here's the deal: I'm not gay (wife, two kids, I love boobs, etc.), but I love all things gay - gay friends, gay culture, gay ... well, gay everything. It's hard to know what to make of it. Tim Gunn? That guy is the freaking man. I can't get enough of him. That guy doing the lip-sync to the Surprise Party SNL thing you just recently posted? Awesome. The way my gay friends get excited over, say, fabulous shoes? I love it. I could go on forever. So ... what am I? Is there a term for a guy like me? I can't get anymore straight sexually, but I just love gayness. Seriously. I know this might be weird, but surely you've encountered others like me.
Of course, some might say there are some usual explanations at work here. I'm a humanitarian. I'm passionate about human rights issues and abuses. (Gay marriage / military service being one of them, of course.) Some might say my love for gay stuff is just a by-product of gays being the currently oppressed minority, and since I have such passion for justice, that naturally follows.
But it's even more complicated than that; I don't fit the usual stereotypes in many ways. I'm a Christian. I served in the military. I'm strongly pro-life. Etc. So I break the standard "intellectual, academic, east coast, liberal elite" framing that some might try to put me in.
Anyway, so the question remains: What's the word/term/label for me and my gay love?
Fag stag? Bro-mo?