So, uhm... I saw this post on Facebook, making fun of "no homo." Perhaps I've been under a rock lately, but I had never heard this term (or heard of it). I decided to look it up.

According to UrbanDictionary.com, it's "said to show that you aren't gay after saying something that sounded gay," i.e. "hey man, pass the nuts. No homo."

I'm a little shocked, saddened, and angry that people could be so disrespectful. But even more, I am concerned with something I started thinking about when Lola wrote about the Gay Pride backlash in her town, namely that heteros are so aware of the cultural fabrication that is heterosexuality that it has begun to officially terrify them.

It used to be, back when very few people were really out of the closet, and being openly gay meant an almost certain beating, not to mention reprehension and alienation, that being homophobic was a "moral obligation," and that being gay was unnatural and un-human. These days, though I know some still think this way, a lot of light has been shed into what homosexuality (and other sexualities) really is about, and thankfully there is a lot more visibility to the cause.

I remember back when Ellen DeGeneres had her show, "Ellen," and she decided to have her character come out. It was a HUGE deal. People were outraged. And despite the network claiming they were not homophobic, her show got canceled right away. Today Ellen is openly married and is likened to Oprah for her success and popularity as a tv host. That is not to say that there isn't still a long way to go (ie. now that Obama has been elected there is no more racism...right!) but when did the thrashing go from "being gay is wrong" to "everyone is gay unless proven straight"?

This "no homo" business, of course, only proves how insecure all these guys are in their sexuality, and how insecure, apparently, a lot of people are about heterosexuality as a whole. On the one hand, it's funny to consider that everyone has the potential for homosexuality...that they're just one dubious claim away from being "outed." On the other hand, like I read in an article during my no homo research, it only proves how much people must have gay sex in the head. If only we could all just mind our own sexuality, our own interests and inclinations, wouldn't everything be much easier?

If this is (at least so far) a strictly male expression, it makes me wonder if it's only because it's "cool" these days for women to be bi. I lean towards Freud, and think that everyone is bi, in the sense that although there are natural orientations, it's perfectly fine to fall in love for any given sex, at any given time. But regardless of personal opinions, I want to personally laugh and make fun of all those endangered heterosexuals out there. God forbid one of these days you stumble onto a penis and turn gay! No straight.