I am probably one of the few forum members who are older than you, beto.
You would think it would be much easier for young gay people in 2011 than it was in, say, 1970. In some ways it is, I'm sure: in most countries the laws relating to homosexuality have improved, there are gay bars and other venues that don't get closed down or firebombed, If a gay man is unlucky enough to get assaulted at a gay beat, they can at least go to the police without fearing that the police will treat them as the criminal.
And yet, when I go on gay chat sites like Gaydar, I start to wonder. I sit back and watch as these guys bitch about how they can't get to meet anyone. I say "Have you tried...?" (insert name of gay nightclub, gay beat, sex-on-premises venue, gay sauna, etc.) And there is always a reason why they haven't; the place sucks, the place is dangerous, the clientele are too old or too queeny, and so on.
It's true; it's safer at home, the drinks are cheaper, the place is as clean as you choose to keep it - but you ain't gonna get a root staying in, not unless you let someone in your door or you get your own arse out of the house.
The sad fact is that some of those guys have nothing BUT the Internet for their social interaction. They have never learned the social skills and ways of connecting that people like myself HAD to learn if we wanted any kind of fulfilment. things like going to a club and testing out the place yourself without having to get a recommendation first from 50 acquaintances on the Internet; learning how to get a feel for what areas in a city are places where gays are likely to meet; ways of conversing with someone in such a way that you indicate you MIGHT be interested, without being explicit or pushy.
Being gay in the 1960s was no bed of roses, and I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the days of homosexual acts being illegal, social disapproval, or - possibly even worse - the subject not even being mentioned, as though homosexuality did not exist. I'm glad for all the progress that has been made. The problem is, I think young people have all this freedom and all the new technology, yet too many of them fail to take advantage of the possibilities that have opened up, and instead think that joining all kinds of Internet sites is somehow going to make sex or love or friendship happen for them, without any effort on their part. In some ways I envy today's young people, but I don't envy their dependence on technology.
