Comments

• Isaac Z. Schlueter

  posted 12 January 2008

  Dude. Seriously.
  
  For starters, anyone who doesn't already at least *suspect* you're gay is so low on gaydar that they probably won't notice the shirt.
  
  Second, you ARE talking about the gym at work, right? You work at a tech company in California, and one that hands out corporate-branded gay pride shirts, no less. I think you have to actually cut hair or perform on broadway to find a more gay-friendly workplace.
  
  The only people who would care are likely either idiots (offending them is worthwhile, imo, if it saves an inane conversation) or interested (in which case, it can only help you, if only by increasing the size of the market and thus the likelihood of a sale.)
  
  It is strange to me that people still even care about the whole gay/straight thing these days. It wouldn't be provocative if I wore a shirt that said I'm straight. (Although, as I've been told, a lot of what I wear pretty much *does* say that...) If you're not interested in making a person part of your sex life, then what does their sexual preference matter? It's kind of like when I remember that 90% of the US is super religious and listens to country music.
  
  Shouldn't we be over homophobia by now and onto some better, more interesting phobia, like velociraptors or asteroids? "Oh, no, here come the gays, they're going to degrade the sanctity of our marriages!" just doesn't measure up next to "Oh, no, here come the velociraptors, they're going to tear out my intestines!"

• ed

  posted 12 January 2008

  I would only add that you're going to the *GYM*. If the gyms in the Bay Area are as gay as the ones in DC and NY (and I imagine they are), then there are tons of gay guys running around anyway.

• Laurie

  posted 12 January 2008

  As Isaac notes, it's a company gym, which for me changes the dynamic a bit -- less likely to be gay, I think, and also you lose some of the protections of anonymity.
  
  On balance I think I'll wear the shirt though.

• ed

  posted 12 January 2008

  Are you squeamish about wearing it in public in general? Given what I've seen you wear, I imagine not. So why does it matter here?

• Laurie

  posted 13 January 2008

  I figure in a gym -- especially in a locker room situation -- it's more provocative than if I were just wearing it on the street.
  
  But actually, if it were to stop certain people wandering around the locker room butt-naked all the time, that would be just fine with me.