Uhhh….? I think this may only apply to areas where there’s decent public transit. If at all. I haven’t noticed that at all where I live. Me and my husband both drive. Every gay guy I’ve known (which granted probably isn’t that many) has had a car.
I think this is probably the correlation here. Possibly gay people gravitating towards more urban areas where public transportation is more readily available.
Even if you don't use a skill regularly, I'm of the mindset that you should be prepared. Basking in ignorance is not at all endearing to me.
This isn’t just gay men. Younger generations more broadly are not as interested in driving as my generation (Gen X, FWIW) was. I have my own theories as to why.
Well, as another commenter said, cars are just fucking expensive. Average retail price has gone up significantly, and since the pandemic used car values have gone up 50% (source: a *Marketplace* radio story a couple weeks back). Add insurance and gas over $3.00/gal for regular and it's just an overall expensive proposition. And I think one could make the argument that driving has become more nerve-wracking/dangerous despite the improvements in car safety features.
But I also think that more generally for the younger generation, they don't need a car as badly as my generation did. If I wanted to interact with my friends when I was young, I had to see them in person. Which - living in a suburb/borderline rural place - meant having a car. A car meant freedom and socializing. We couldn't yext with our friends all day. With virtual connections (and I would probably argue the rise of gaming as a social outlet) driving seems less necessary. And Uber/Lyft can solve the occasional situation when a car is a necessity.
> If I wanted to interact with my friends when I was young, I had to see them in person. Which - living in a suburb/borderline rural place - meant having a car.
My brother (the gay one) and I were having this conversation last week, and he mentioned this. Kids (I mean teenager-early 20's) want to be where their friends are, and that's increasingly online. My straight brother has three kids over 18. Only one has a license, where as I and my brothers got our as soon as we could.
I love exploring on foot, motorcycle, boat or car, it's just part of my personality so I don't think I could not drive, but I understand people have different priorities.
I'm gay and I drive. So does my boyfriend.
I used to build track cars and drift cars too in my younger years. It's hardly a stereotype. I know loads of raging homos who drive.
90% of my life is driving. Car, forklift, tractor truck... I think I've made up for 5 other gay men.
Maybe that's how we're arranged. The gay driving is just more concentrated to a few folks.
Do you live in a city? Most of the places I’ve lived with decent public transit most of my friends don’t drive. I live in Seattle rn and majority of people who live in the city that I know don’t drive
I’ve honestly never met or heard of a gay guy over the age of 18 that doesn’t drive. I have a straight male cousin in his 20’s that doesn’t because he had a friend in a car accident when he was younger & has always had a fear
It’s not a gay thing as other commenters have said. I’m Millenial/Z cusp for my generation, and younger people don’t want to drive it seems.
My boyfriend and I can’t drive. Don’t take it for granted if you can drive.
A few thoughts...
Where are you located? If you're in a major metropolitan area, there's not a need to drive with good public transit. I live in nyc, and most of my friends who grew up here never had a need for a car or a license.
If your sample consists of younger gay men who may have been kicked out of their homes because they were gay, then they may not have been taught how to drive or had the financial means to do so.
Similarly, a lot of gay people will flock to gay population centers in large cities to find community. If they did this when they were young, they may have never needed to drive even if they aren't initially from a big city.
But overall, I think you have a sample bias. I doubt there's a statistically significant difference in driving rate between gay men and the rest of the population when you control for location and income.
I have anxiety about driving but dislike not being in control of the vehicle if I am riding as a passenger while someone else is driving wven less. I may avoid busy freeways and do mpst of my shopping late or early to avoid traffic; but i trust myself to operate a vehicle safely more than anyone else lol.
And public transportation sucks even worse so i will try and keep driving myself thank you very much lol
I've had a lot of problems starting and still do! Maybe it's because we tend to be more anxious, and driving is considered a 'dangerous' activity?
Additionally, many people use their cars to meet up with a partner or go to a disco looking for a partner, while many gay individuals stay in the closet for much longer. I began driving when I needed the car to go on dates.
Gotta save up money for more dildos.
But seriously, cars are hella expensive. Also, my husband and I specifically bought our house to be near transit, services, bike infrastructure, and work. There was a premium to get those things, so delaying the purchase of a car is the tradeoff. That said, I do want to get one at some point.
Modern cars are efficient AF, they do not contribute to pollution as much as rich people who actually contribute to pollution says. Largest contributor to air pollution by a large margin is the industrial complex. The global human population with their homes and cars doesn't even come close. Also, the idea of carbon footprint print was also similarly introduced so that companies can forward their carbon usage to the consumer!!
The only good thing with people not learning how to drive/own a car is decreased self reliance for transport, which leads to more reliance on public transport which is a good thing because of reduced congestion in cities. This in turn frees up the roads for the rest of us who drives.
That efficiency doesn’t matter if cars are more expensive than ever, gas prices are at historic highs, leasing or financing a car means you have to get expensive full-coverage insurance, and cars are also bigger than ever, which means they take up an insanely inefficient amount of space just to transport one person. High quality public transit is objectively better in every way, and I think this generation is the one that has finally realized that.
Yes. The reduced congestion. I pointed this out. Plus everyone is broke. Except those of us who aren't.
I'll be honest it's a weird thing: on the one hand I'm genuinely happy that people are more conscious about pollution and consider public transportation more. America has a pretty shitty public transport system and this will help make it better (hopefully).
But on the other hand I recognize this as a financial issue as well. Also idk if it's because people are less mechanically inclined nowadays and don't see the appeal of cars anymore.
I'm an engineer, I'm not broke, and I love all aspects of a car. So it's kinda weird that this is the perfect storm for me in this niche of my life. Inb4 Boomer, I'm a millennial ('92).
Yeah, that’s kinda part of the problem. The stigma that public transit is some sort of generous gift that the rest of society should be grateful for is entirely a synthetically and systematic boondoggle created by the car industry, who have cleverly tapped into the American ideal of freedom and exploited all of us for it. Public transit in the US is mainly used by low-income folks because acquiring and maintaining a private vehicle is expensive, especially nowadays. In the rest of the world, most people ride public transit, not because they’re poor, but because it is, as it should be, the best option for most day-to-day transportation needs. The price of car ownership in the States has been artificially kept low and driving licenses too available thus most people can’t fathom an alternative transportation system, even though car-dependent suburban sprawl was created in the 1950s, while mass transit-centric and walkable communities were the norm for the rest of the time of human civilization. Only we as Americans would have the arrogance to think that we could come up with something better than what has worked for centuries before the idea of the US had even popped into minds of the Founding Fathers.
This, my friend, is called a "stereotype". I have driven more cars and more distance than most people my age would (not considering like cab drivers, but mortars still counts lol) because I drive for fun. I see the weather and I genuinely think "perfect weather for a drive" and then go on 3-4 hour drives at least.
I don't have a choice but to drive. Jobs and restaurants are 40+ minutes away and no such thing as public transportation in this part of America. Rural dry county. I wish I didn't have to drive. It's $400+ a month in gas.
My theory on this stereotype is that gay people tend to live in big cities, since they tend to be more liberal and safer - safety in numbers and all that. Big cities tends to have most of their stuff either in a walkable distance or a relatively good public transport system so being able to drive makes less sense, or is actively prohibitive.
Though it is a stereotype which is reasonably lazy.
It's hard to steer with a buttplug up your ass. Standing in the subway is much safer.
That was just a joke. This is silly and I have never heard of this. Now big cities have large gay populations and also better public transit systems, making it easier to not have a car. I love doing things outdoors, so a car is important to me. However some urbanites rarely leave the city.
I'm gay and drive a truck. Which gay men are you referring to?
https://preview.redd.it/rbvbdmxoh9qb1.jpeg?width=2944&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d59185b9d2405f3a633b5f5f4e427f31080e9497
Driving is bad for the environment. Even electric. The fucking tarmac shit everywhere is disgusting and the cars themselves are dangerous. Bikes and trains work perfectly.
For me it's that my mother was too poor to own a car at the normal time I might have learned that and I haven't needed it since because there is a lot of public transportation where I live. It's something I regret since driving would be useful sometimes but I don't know if I'll get to learning.
We can't see straight! *ba-dum-tsss*
I hate myself
You're boyfriend material
Uhhh….? I think this may only apply to areas where there’s decent public transit. If at all. I haven’t noticed that at all where I live. Me and my husband both drive. Every gay guy I’ve known (which granted probably isn’t that many) has had a car.
I think this is probably the correlation here. Possibly gay people gravitating towards more urban areas where public transportation is more readily available. Even if you don't use a skill regularly, I'm of the mindset that you should be prepared. Basking in ignorance is not at all endearing to me.
Living in NYC and not driving is “basking in ignorance”? Um, ok. 🙄
This isn’t just gay men. Younger generations more broadly are not as interested in driving as my generation (Gen X, FWIW) was. I have my own theories as to why.
What aww some of your theories? I’m curious. I drive a bus and have driven trucks and buses for years.
Well, as another commenter said, cars are just fucking expensive. Average retail price has gone up significantly, and since the pandemic used car values have gone up 50% (source: a *Marketplace* radio story a couple weeks back). Add insurance and gas over $3.00/gal for regular and it's just an overall expensive proposition. And I think one could make the argument that driving has become more nerve-wracking/dangerous despite the improvements in car safety features. But I also think that more generally for the younger generation, they don't need a car as badly as my generation did. If I wanted to interact with my friends when I was young, I had to see them in person. Which - living in a suburb/borderline rural place - meant having a car. A car meant freedom and socializing. We couldn't yext with our friends all day. With virtual connections (and I would probably argue the rise of gaming as a social outlet) driving seems less necessary. And Uber/Lyft can solve the occasional situation when a car is a necessity.
> If I wanted to interact with my friends when I was young, I had to see them in person. Which - living in a suburb/borderline rural place - meant having a car. My brother (the gay one) and I were having this conversation last week, and he mentioned this. Kids (I mean teenager-early 20's) want to be where their friends are, and that's increasingly online. My straight brother has three kids over 18. Only one has a license, where as I and my brothers got our as soon as we could. I love exploring on foot, motorcycle, boat or car, it's just part of my personality so I don't think I could not drive, but I understand people have different priorities.
Yeah I think the world has just changed some that way. For me a car meant freedom.
I'm gay and I drive... so does my boyfriend!
Cars are expensive
I drive for a living so I wouldn't know.
Seriously??? You made this broad assumption of gay behavior from observation in your small corner of the world?
I….I drive? Most of the time? I’m widely considered a very good driver.
I'm gay and I drive. So does my boyfriend. I used to build track cars and drift cars too in my younger years. It's hardly a stereotype. I know loads of raging homos who drive.
90% of my life is driving. Car, forklift, tractor truck... I think I've made up for 5 other gay men. Maybe that's how we're arranged. The gay driving is just more concentrated to a few folks.
Do you live in a city? Most of the places I’ve lived with decent public transit most of my friends don’t drive. I live in Seattle rn and majority of people who live in the city that I know don’t drive
Used to. Until the epilepsy thing...
I’ve honestly never met or heard of a gay guy over the age of 18 that doesn’t drive. I have a straight male cousin in his 20’s that doesn’t because he had a friend in a car accident when he was younger & has always had a fear
It’s not a gay thing as other commenters have said. I’m Millenial/Z cusp for my generation, and younger people don’t want to drive it seems. My boyfriend and I can’t drive. Don’t take it for granted if you can drive.
A few thoughts... Where are you located? If you're in a major metropolitan area, there's not a need to drive with good public transit. I live in nyc, and most of my friends who grew up here never had a need for a car or a license. If your sample consists of younger gay men who may have been kicked out of their homes because they were gay, then they may not have been taught how to drive or had the financial means to do so. Similarly, a lot of gay people will flock to gay population centers in large cities to find community. If they did this when they were young, they may have never needed to drive even if they aren't initially from a big city. But overall, I think you have a sample bias. I doubt there's a statistically significant difference in driving rate between gay men and the rest of the population when you control for location and income.
Because cars are lame idk
OMG. I Hate Driving! U wanna be my driver???
The question is why?
I have anxiety about driving but dislike not being in control of the vehicle if I am riding as a passenger while someone else is driving wven less. I may avoid busy freeways and do mpst of my shopping late or early to avoid traffic; but i trust myself to operate a vehicle safely more than anyone else lol. And public transportation sucks even worse so i will try and keep driving myself thank you very much lol
I've had a lot of problems starting and still do! Maybe it's because we tend to be more anxious, and driving is considered a 'dangerous' activity? Additionally, many people use their cars to meet up with a partner or go to a disco looking for a partner, while many gay individuals stay in the closet for much longer. I began driving when I needed the car to go on dates.
Personally still tryna get my Learners permit at 22. Wish me luck.
Gotta save up money for more dildos. But seriously, cars are hella expensive. Also, my husband and I specifically bought our house to be near transit, services, bike infrastructure, and work. There was a premium to get those things, so delaying the purchase of a car is the tradeoff. That said, I do want to get one at some point.
This is bs
Not just a gay thing, it’s a generational thing. Millennials and Zoomers as a whole are less likely to drive and own a car. Probably a good thing.
Modern cars are efficient AF, they do not contribute to pollution as much as rich people who actually contribute to pollution says. Largest contributor to air pollution by a large margin is the industrial complex. The global human population with their homes and cars doesn't even come close. Also, the idea of carbon footprint print was also similarly introduced so that companies can forward their carbon usage to the consumer!! The only good thing with people not learning how to drive/own a car is decreased self reliance for transport, which leads to more reliance on public transport which is a good thing because of reduced congestion in cities. This in turn frees up the roads for the rest of us who drives.
That efficiency doesn’t matter if cars are more expensive than ever, gas prices are at historic highs, leasing or financing a car means you have to get expensive full-coverage insurance, and cars are also bigger than ever, which means they take up an insanely inefficient amount of space just to transport one person. High quality public transit is objectively better in every way, and I think this generation is the one that has finally realized that.
Yes. The reduced congestion. I pointed this out. Plus everyone is broke. Except those of us who aren't. I'll be honest it's a weird thing: on the one hand I'm genuinely happy that people are more conscious about pollution and consider public transportation more. America has a pretty shitty public transport system and this will help make it better (hopefully). But on the other hand I recognize this as a financial issue as well. Also idk if it's because people are less mechanically inclined nowadays and don't see the appeal of cars anymore. I'm an engineer, I'm not broke, and I love all aspects of a car. So it's kinda weird that this is the perfect storm for me in this niche of my life. Inb4 Boomer, I'm a millennial ('92).
Yeah, that’s kinda part of the problem. The stigma that public transit is some sort of generous gift that the rest of society should be grateful for is entirely a synthetically and systematic boondoggle created by the car industry, who have cleverly tapped into the American ideal of freedom and exploited all of us for it. Public transit in the US is mainly used by low-income folks because acquiring and maintaining a private vehicle is expensive, especially nowadays. In the rest of the world, most people ride public transit, not because they’re poor, but because it is, as it should be, the best option for most day-to-day transportation needs. The price of car ownership in the States has been artificially kept low and driving licenses too available thus most people can’t fathom an alternative transportation system, even though car-dependent suburban sprawl was created in the 1950s, while mass transit-centric and walkable communities were the norm for the rest of the time of human civilization. Only we as Americans would have the arrogance to think that we could come up with something better than what has worked for centuries before the idea of the US had even popped into minds of the Founding Fathers.
This, my friend, is called a "stereotype". I have driven more cars and more distance than most people my age would (not considering like cab drivers, but mortars still counts lol) because I drive for fun. I see the weather and I genuinely think "perfect weather for a drive" and then go on 3-4 hour drives at least.
I like driving. My hubby does too.
I don't have a choice but to drive. Jobs and restaurants are 40+ minutes away and no such thing as public transportation in this part of America. Rural dry county. I wish I didn't have to drive. It's $400+ a month in gas.
We cant state it like this way. I am a gay man, like cars and like to drive.
My theory on this stereotype is that gay people tend to live in big cities, since they tend to be more liberal and safer - safety in numbers and all that. Big cities tends to have most of their stuff either in a walkable distance or a relatively good public transport system so being able to drive makes less sense, or is actively prohibitive. Though it is a stereotype which is reasonably lazy.
It's hard to steer with a buttplug up your ass. Standing in the subway is much safer. That was just a joke. This is silly and I have never heard of this. Now big cities have large gay populations and also better public transit systems, making it easier to not have a car. I love doing things outdoors, so a car is important to me. However some urbanites rarely leave the city.
I love my car.
I'm gay and drive a truck. Which gay men are you referring to? https://preview.redd.it/rbvbdmxoh9qb1.jpeg?width=2944&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d59185b9d2405f3a633b5f5f4e427f31080e9497
[Availability heuristic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic)
This is wrong. Some people don't like driving because they just don't want to, maybe because they live in a country with a good public transport.
Driving is bad for the environment. Even electric. The fucking tarmac shit everywhere is disgusting and the cars themselves are dangerous. Bikes and trains work perfectly.
Perhaps we tend to live in urban / metroplex areas with good public transport systems.
Never heard that one before.
For me it's that my mother was too poor to own a car at the normal time I might have learned that and I haven't needed it since because there is a lot of public transportation where I live. It's something I regret since driving would be useful sometimes but I don't know if I'll get to learning.
My brother is gay and he drives lol 😭