Q. How are the issues that gay males say they face in society different from those that all males face? I don't understand this!

A. Your comment made me think of something my father used to tell me when I would say I didn’t understand another’s behavior: “Walk a mile in his/her moccasins and then let’s talk about it." Of course I couldn’t literally do that but the concept did help put into perspective that each brain is different and that it may be difficult, if not impossible, to really understand another’s issues as that individual perceives them.

According to Alan Downs, the trauma of growing up gay in a world that is run primarily by straight men is deeply wounding in a unique and profound way; that straight men have issues and struggles that are no less wounding but that are quite different from those that a gay male faces. (Downs, Alan, PhD. The Velvet Rage. Overcoming the Pain of Growing up Gay in a Straight Man’s World. P 5-6.)

I’ll have to take his word for it.