Guess Who’s Gay Panel, Essay Example

Although I have always told myself that I wasn’t prejudice, this activity uncovered some prejudices I didn’t realize I had. Often  a person feels he/she can determine if a person is gay just by looking at the way he dresses, speaks, or his mannerisms.

During the panel, I noticed several people who were dressed, in my opinion, very feminine. I was shocked to find out that many men with heterosexual preferences wear “skinny jeans” and pink. The one person I was sure was gay because of the way he dressed turned out to be “straight”. As a result, I will no longer judge people by the way they dress.

I thought language was a dead giveaway for person who was gay. I felt that people who were gay tended to use female slang terms like-girlfriend, honey, and child. All terms that I have heard females using when talking to their close friends. I heard some of those terms during the panel, but again these individuals were not gay.

Finally, mannerism, I thought, was the surest way to pick out someone who was gay. To me, swaying hips automatically meant a person was gay. Nonetheless, the gay person who stepped forward was the one person I was sure wasn’t gay. He had none of the common characteristics I associated with being gay. Again, this was an eye opening experience for me. No longer will I judge a person merely by their appearance.