So, I saw a lot of people on the threads about TG's announcement ask why it mattered, and why he had to come out publicly and not just to his closest family and friends. I thought I would share my perspective on this.
This all relates to the concept of marked and unmarked pairs of meaning in society. A widespread idea in linguistics, that basically boils down to the fact that a lot of ideas, concepts and values are considered "standard" in our society, while some are not. Note that this does not make the standards better - But they are standards.
Let's use a thought experiment from disc golf to show this in a very simple way. If you were to tell someone to throw their disc with the flight plate on top (the normal way), would you need to specify that to them? No, it's standard, it's unmarked. But if you want them to throw the disc upside down, you need to tell them to do that. It's no longer standard, it's marked.
Now, in some places in society, this markedness has actual, real influence on peoples lives. We see this both with regards to race, sexuality and gender, where some identities, races and sexualities are unmarked, standard, in society, and some are marked, nonstandard.
If you meet a man, it's still very much the norm to assume that he is straight. And from a statistical standpoint, you're way more likely to be right than not. But this also means that the way you talk to the person is likely to be influenced by this unmarked assumption of straight sexuality - You don't notice this, probably, exactly because it's unmarked - It's the standard. So you might say something like "Oh, he deserves a nice girlfriend", or "Why don't you talk to that girl over there" - All in good faith, but it could be annoying or hurting the person you're speaking to.
And this is one of the reasons why homosexuals (and other sexual minorities) might feel the need to announce their sexuality - Especially when they're a public person. They need us to know it, because without that knowledge, we usually treat people as though they're straight - And that might not always be nice for the person in question, even when no harm is meant by it by the people around them (and in the public space).
I hope this has brought another perspective into this topic, answered why sexual minorities cannot always simply "keep their sexualities to themselves just like I do", and why comments like "I'm straight and I don't go around flaunting that fact" completely miss the mark on the
... keep reading on reddit ➡I just went through the [now locked] thread about Thomas coming out, and there were a number of people in the bowels of the comment section claiming his sexuality isn't news.
It absolutely is. Gallup says that 5.6% of Americans identify as LGBT.
edit: 4.9% of the male population
Carl Nassib is the only active NFL to come out.
Jason Collins is the only NBA player to come out while playing.
Luke Prokop is the only gay active NHL player, ever.
There is one openly gay MLS player, Collin Martin.
Tadd Fujikawa was the first PGA player to come out, in 2018.
No man has ever come out in professional tennis.
There have been more one-handed players in the MLB than gay players.
Get the picture? Whether your argument is that r/discgolf should be reserved for pictures of you standing next to a basket you swear you aced, or that in the wonderful, inclusive world of 2022, a person's sexuality isn't news, or you're just a bigot threatened by exceptionally talented, likeable gay people, this is a really big deal.
*edited to clean up my crappy links
[REQUEST] Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach 3rd edition by Thomas R. Gilbert, Rein V. Kirss, Stacey Lowery Bretz, and Natalie Foster. The libgen link in the other post didn't work for me! Can someone send a pdf?
Just turned on OTB Skins #28, which starts with Thomas peeking his head out, and my wife goes "He's a cutie!"
> Throws farther than you
> Shows up in every disc golf video
> Is a cutie
If you are familiar with the Miss Frisbee's account he reached out to her to play a round before coming back to the United States to play in DGLO.
Title speaks for itself. Thomas is a loveable fellow and shows up in every video. Little brother needs love.
