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Montrose, down in Houston, is wall to wall Gay Boomers. Not a coincidence that Houston has been one of the friendliest cities for gay men to live straight back to the 1970s

Not rare with boomer LGBTQ+ people here in Sweden, I know several and had many around as neighbours etc. throughout my whole life. One of the people who checks your ID and stuff when you vote in my area is trans (mtf) and has been doing that for 30+ years and it's nothing odd for the vast majority who meet her, I think she's in her 80s now. Was always curious and liked her when I was a kid and went there with my parents. Still like her of course, and it's always so nice to see her still doing that.

“Confirmed Bachelor”

“Longtime Roommates”

Well... And a lot of them just moved to locations that were safer for them so they are more concentrated in certain areas. People saying they're no boomer lqbtq people haven't been to San Francisco or key west apparently.

I always cringe when conservatives around my age say there were no trans kids back when they were in school, because I was just abused out of my school when I was outed as a trans man and had to be homeschooled instead. (I’m not talking about just bullying, the abuse culminated with three classmates raping me on school property before classes one morning.)

The other trans kid I knew of in my class was literally expelled once she came out. (Something the school blamed on me, since they claimed they had to kick her out after how classmates had reacted to me.)

So, I guess there are no trans kids in school with you if you attack them until they leave, or just throw them out.

Growing up, I heard so many from my parents generation saying things about having to work against your impulses. I heard so many express worry about denying attractions and fears of the same sex being attracted to them, worried about finding themselves in a situation after too much to drink…

To the point where I briefly wondered what was wrong with me, that I never felt these temptations. I even tried making out with a guy once just to see the reaction. It wasn’t for me, I just don’t have that attraction in me.

I realized VERY young that the gay/straight thing was a whole lot easier AND a whole lot more complicated than it had been sold.

This boomer can confirm: The closet is walk-in with an ensuite, bar fridge, and a huge quantity of copium.

Don't forget how many simply refused to entertain reality in the first place. Every so often we still see someone telling on themselves, like "If he didn't actually have sex with men, he's not gay. If gay was just attraction we would all be gay." They got pushed so far into the closet that they thought that was just how the world is.

My brother is from that era. I used to hangout with him and his friends when I was a kid and they were easily some of the nicest, smartest, most accepting people I knew. They’re a big reason for my radicalization into adulthood.

That whole friend circle has been decimated by AIDS. It’s really sad. He has a couple friends that made it through, but things will never be the same for him or the remaining friends.

Edit: thinking about this more, it makes me thankful to still have my brother around. On the non-selfish side, I’m sad he has to endure such loss and grief.

A lot of it is denial as well. In the mental health realm, for example, I meet a lot of Boomers who show obvious signs of ADHD and/or Autism and they haven't the slightest idea they have it.

If you ask one of them to get tested, they'll just stubbornly refuse and insist there's nothing different about them, even when you point out their symptoms to them. "A lot of people do this; doesn't mean anything!" Yeah well a lot of people are neurodivergent. Something like 30% of the population has ADHD, for example.

Just because a lot of people have a mental health disorder, that doesn't give you an excuse to just ignore it! You still need treatment and therapy.

Dont forget the ones who internalized homophobia and became gay-persecuting Republicans with Grindr accounts.

"Being gay and trans is just a fad" says the generation that wiped out most of the queer population by ignoring a disease that literally killed most of their queer friends and family. And then made their living queer friends taboo because they like another person of the same sex

AIDS is a huge one.

I met someone a little while ago who was fresh out of the closet and complaining how long they’d spent there.

Statistically, they’d be dead if they were out pre AIDS.

As an older gay guy, as you grow older, being gay stops being important. You just like guys, and the other guy like girls. That's it.

And it's actually kind of annoying how some people make that their entire personality. But when I left my mom's house I even hanged porn pictures on my room, to tell everyone what I am and that I wouldn't hide anymore. So I was the same.

But over time I realised that I should never have to hide, I didn't have to keep showing either. I didn't really want. I just did it because I was angry I had to hide.

My point is; we are here. Just not that visible.

Plus we didn't have internet back then. Thank god. I wouldn't want to see again the things I would have written.

Edit, I must also say that it's because a lot of people fought for our rights. I couldn't just be a guy who likes guys back then. It's a luxury I love. I can say stuff like "my partner, he does this or that" and it never becomes "what, are you gay?" anymore. It's just like a straight guy talking about his female partner most of the times, and that's awesome. I can choose to make it my personality or not these days without having to hide.

I'm a Gen Xer. There wasn't a single gay or trans person in any of the schools I went to all the way through high school. That I knew of. I sometimes wonder who was and either kept it hidden or didn't even know themselves because it wasn't considered ~~an option~~ a possibility.

This is me once again seeing the LGBTQ+ initialism and asking people to switch to the more respectable and scientific term "Sexual and Gender Minorities" or SGM for short.