«I JUST READ EVERYTHING»

There are a lot of differences between the various generations of queers, like how the older ones grew up reading Cosmo while the newer ones only bother with serious financial digests and video games. But I feel the main contrast lies in underlying attitudes towards sex. Old queens grew up with very little gay visibility in the media and a heightened sense of gayness being something taboo and even (in society's eyes) sinful and downright sick. They came of age feeling that gay was something to hide or to "get over," and often felt more attracted to anonymous, shame-based sex than to open, long-term connections.Those hoary attitudes still pop up, but mainly the younger gays have grown up with queer iconography everywhere they turn and with gay marriage seeming to become an eventual reality as society progresses. They have healthier views about sex and seem unencumbered by the urgency to hide and slink around in dark alleys. In fact, they generally want long-term relationships more than their predecessors did (though they'll gladly spice up those relationships with shameless online hookups, albeit often with their partner's permission--or even inclusion

Michael Musto.