Great article, interesting thread. Agreed - gay bars are NOT autism-friendly. I have a hard enough time in conversation as it is, but with all that background noise & loud dance music, it becomes basically impossible. Yeah, it's a welcome boost to my self-esteem to get hit on, but usually I end up sounding stupid or looking depressed. But it could be that gay culture in general isn't very Aspie-friendly.
Seconding what Visagrunt was saying, it really is striking that with all the positive changes that have happened for gay people - rights, visibility, social acceptance & means of communicating with each other - that the main locus for meeting one another remains the gay bar. Of all the lasting friendships I've made with gay people (not very many, though I do try, & I have made a few good ones), none grew out of an encounter at a gay bar.
09 Feb 2012, 4:43 pm
