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From: muffy@lll-crg.ARPA (Muffy Barkocy)
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Re: why gays like to be visible
Message-ID: <476@lll-crg.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 26-Mar-85 10:05:28 EST
Article-I.D.: lll-crg.476
Posted: Tue Mar 26 10:05:28 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 2-Apr-85 03:23:11 EST
References: <201@bbnccv.UUCP> <536@ahuta.UUCP> <576@ahutb.UUCP>
Reply-To: muffy@lll-crg.UUCP (Muffy Barkocy)
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Labs, CRG group
Lines: 70
Summary: 

In article <576@ahutb.UUCP> ecl@ahutb.UUCP (e.c.leeper) writes:
>REFERENCES:  <201@bbnccv.UUCP>, <536@ahuta.UUCP>
>
>Well, I've put on my asbestos suit, so here goes...
>
>> 	I would like to advertise for a gay roommate without
>> having to fear that if found out I lose all the above.
>
>Why?  Is it reasonable for people to advertise for an Italian roommate, or a
>short roommate, or a non-handicapped roommate, or a white roommate?  Now while
>I will admit that there are reasonable restrictions (an orthodox Jew should be
>able to advertise for a roommate who will be willing to maintain a kosher
>household, for example), the question of gayness vs. straightness seems more a
>question of other people accepting your lifestyles, not insisting that they
>adopt yours (right?).

Hang on here.  I think your analogies are inappropriate.  It's more like
advertising for a female or male roommate.  Suppose I (being female) don't
want to live with some strange male, so I put in an ad for a female roommate?
Is there something wrong with this?  I would say that this is reasonable.

>
>>                                                        I
>> like to let people know that I am gay, so that if there is another
>> person gay, who is hiding, might meet with me.
>
>In case cited, the person was advertising for a roommate, not a partner.
>If what you're advertising for *is* a partner (SO, whatever), I wouldn't be
>surprised if the company wouldn't let you do so in their classifieds.  They
>wouldn't let straights do it either.  (Or bi's.)
>

I don't see the relevance of this.  I also think that it is unlikely that
people would *bother* trying to advertise for a partner in the classifieds,
since the personals exist for such purposes, and anyone who might be avail-
able/interested would certainly look in the personals rather than the
classifieds.

>Should they allow ads like  "Car for sale by gay male"?
>

No, nor ads like "Car for sale by straight female."  The thing here is not 
analogous either.  In this case, sexual preference is unlikely to have any-
thing to do with the sale of the car.

>>                                                         I don't
>> like looking at someone and wondering if he is gay, asking for a 
>> date, finding out he is not gay and getting him mad. I would like
>> to know who is gay and just ask them and prevent all the hassels.
>
>But what if he's not gay and doesn't get mad?  You seem to be saying that all
>straights get mad if they're asked for a date by a gay.  It's just not true.
>
>It just doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose in this sort of ad to indicate
>"gay".
>
>					Evelyn C. Leeper
>					...ihnp4!ahutb!ecl

Yes, it most definitely serves a purpose.  I know that I feel that I should
have who I like as a roommate.  If I happen to want a 7' redheaded female
roommate, I should be able to search for one.  After all, *I* am the one that
has to live with this person.  In the same way, the prospective roommate
should have a choice as to me.  The purpose of an ad like this is to get
the desired type of person applying.  It might be argued that it is more
appropriate to screen the people when they apply, but it is more work, and
as in my analogy above, people *do* advertise for, say, only women to even
bother applying, so that less time gets wasted by both parties.
                              Muffy