Men holding hands in the Street

[girlfriend44]

Saw two men walking along hand in hand earlier and I admired their bravery and thought hope nobody starts on them.
Have seen women before but not men?
Do you think they were brave. Would you be scared for them if they were your sons?
Brave men. Perhaps it's something we will see more of in the future?

Perfectly normal. I wouldn't have even bothered to write a post about it, unless I thought that it wasn't.

I live in brighton (being a LGBT friendly town) & I still think LGBT people are incredibly brave to hold hands/show public affection. If you think it’s ‘nothing’ you’re not giving them enough credit IMO.

Also I think people responding to this thread should consider the difference between "do you think it can still be dangerous to be openly gay" and "I think it's weird that men are holding hands" OBVIOUSLY it's the former. Please stop attacking OP Ty

I think its getting less tolerant. Scary scary world

I am gobsmacked that in 2022 this is the first time you’ve seen it. You should move.

@Daffi lesbian friends were walking past shelter hall a few weeks ago holding hands and got harassed by a group of me.

So……

They aren’t brave they are normal.
I would hope in a developed country they wouldn’t get any moronic heckles but you never know & I am sure they can handle them.

Of course they're brave.

I have lesbian friends and they are still very careful to avoid abuse. They often have to refer to each other as friends. We live in the south east so hardly the back of beyond.

Just being a football fan is enough to know that homophobia is alive and well in the UK. It's still a huge thing for footballers to come out, let alone have the luxury of holding hands in the street. When they do (come out) they receive death threats and daily abuse.

Sadly not all of the UK is like Brighton.

I live in a young and liberal area of London but it's still extremely rare to see gay couples holding hands in the street.

But then, come to think of it, it's extremely rare to see ANY couples holding hands in the street. I think hand holding is very much the domain of a far older generation and Meghan & Harry. If I went out with any of my coupled up friends and they held hands I would be absolutely gobsmacked. The only couple I know who hold hands are MIL and FIL (76 and 81).

@Grrrrdarling did you read all the posts about peole
being beaten to a pulp?

I’m assuming you do not live in the U.K. so I’m curious where you are ? It’s very common in everywhere here .
mots nit wow thing I even consider out of the ordinary . Ido t mid at all and my children all know love is love and people can love men or women .

My close friend is a gay man. He holds hands with his partner in public and kisses him. Never had any trouble. Maybe it depends on area, they live in London.

Cities like London are different to most places. I'd like to see this more often in the place where I live, but nope. I have occasionally seen women holding hands though.

@Mfsf im assuming that you have never known any gay people beyond a superficial relationship if you think that there is not still appalling levels of violent homophobia throughout the UK.

That's awful , it's something hetro couples never have to think about.

As many have said it is normal, but... there are bigoted people out there that will see it as an issue sadly.

It’s no big deal.

No only a few best friends , my stepson , my BFF daughter 🙄. I did not say there is no prejudice , I said it’s not that uncommon . Sim Ben where I live in Scotland that’s a bit more rural it will not turn heads .

The fact you even write this post worries me and shows me the underlining thought is still there - if my son was gay I’d be terrified that some ignorant idiot would attack him as sadly happened to my friends son only just recently

I don’t actually see it very often at all. Of course it’s brave.

This! Pretending like homophobia isn't a real thing anymore, ffs. I do think they are brave and I would be worried if it was my loved one as so much hate still out there.

My friends say it’s the low level hum of dislike and disgust that can feel horrid too.
so not the open attacks which still VERYmuch happen.but those looks.those whispers,nudges,the air of not being accepted.my friends say that strips away at you.
and those that say they don’t have anything against gays but they can tell they really do.to feel someone doesn’t like something that is as who you are as your limbs can feel so defeating. And I can imagine it really would hurt.

A few have said in London you see it all the time etc

Even in supposedly liberal London it’s not so liberal everywhere in London or with all the population of London.

im from an immigrant family cousins who are gay the family know but it’s still not accepted in the same way and never would they walk into a family occasion holding hands or be in anyway affectionate

There’s a great speech under the name of panti bliss about the oppression experienced. She has gone on to repeat the speech several times as both her drag persona and as his regular self. It’s a very touching, moving speech.

I live in Ireland we had a spate of gay men being attacked not so long ago, I don’t know that it’s stopped but it’s not being reported in the news. All of my lgbtq+ friends are wary of holding hands, showing any affection even with their straight mates having a hug hello or goodbye. I sometimes feel we take one step forward and 2 back when it comes to the lgbtq+ community. It’s scary and never seems to get less so.

This is all very interesting. It is brave for homosexual couples to show affection in public in some parts of England ( I cannot speak for other parts of UK) I have a gay nephew and he and his partner love to travel in Europe but choose carefully where they go. After all, he was badly beaten up in South Africa where he was a practising lawyer. They live in SE England now and feel relatively secure. I read a note by Gingernan on the long discussion about immigration and illegal immigrants. She said she had a West Indian partner.Much as I enjoy life in the Caribbean I am afraid that homophobia is rife in the islands, so it is brave of my gay friends here to be openly gay. I would also point out that Islam is very homophobic and thinks nothing of killing any gay man violently. So Gingernan ask your partner if he supports gay people?
One of the reasons I do not like mainstream Islam is that is extremely imtolearnt of Western liberal values. I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the degree of intolerance towards gay people in parts of Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

so this is an issue that will not go away in the medium future, in case you had not noticed.

You need to move to Manchester. Where the heck are you that this isn't the norm?