GAY

Just a quick thought that came to my brain box when I heard about Jason Collins. I was listening to The B.S. Report when this popped into my head. I am not gay myself but a number of my friends are.

I presume that the number of homosexuals in society hasn't majorly increased in ratio from generation to generation but certainly lately more and more people are no longer keeping it secret. I wonder  is this linked to a shift in mentality. 

In the western world, we often hear that an individual's mindset has changed. Phrases like "Be yourself, everybody else is taken" are pervasive. Rise in the ideas of self-empowerment, individuality and capitalist thinking. No longer, group/village think where a group of people have to work closely together to live and trade. The rise of I suppose you would call it 'a self centered role' and the fall of the 'dependency'. Former communist states, no doubt, still feel the effects of a former era on their economy, environment and socially. I wonder if a residual effect of communism on society a greater feeling of community and as a result a greater reluctance of revealing sexual preferences.

From what I gather it is illegal to come out as gay in North Korea. Punishable by death or work in a concentration camp. Religion plays little role in North Korean life. That's if you don't count their devotion to their leader. But that aside, due to crushing poverty and the economic system they live in, would people come out even if it wasn't unlawful? I don't think so.

To cut a long story short, is a side-effect of the self centered, individualistic world that we live in give people more confidence to reveal their true sexuality?

Do I think gay people are any more self centered or individualistic than a straight person ? No. Do I think admitting that you're gay is a selfish act? Not at all. I think it's incredibly brave. 

Yes the diminished influence of religion and a free media also play a large role. But the fall of religous institutions and greater freedom of media might infact foster this individual thinking. I'm sure plenty of people have put forward this theory before me and plenty of academic work has been written on the subject if I only just looked. Any evidence that I have for the change in society that I talk about is purely anecdotal and might not even exist.