BAMMER47: From everything you hear and read, younger LGBTQers today are much more inclusive and non-discriminatory, as a rule, than the older generation. The growing number of those who identify as trans and the gradual movement towards non-binary genderism, in particular, are making room for much more diverse LGBTQ friendships among the young than my generation ever maintained. Yet, a millennial follower with whom I chatted recently shared his experience that this overlooks at least one way in which the younger LGBTQ set may in fact behave non-inclusively: his circle of friends in NYC included a nice mix of LGBTQers and straights. But, when he moved to San Francisco 2 1/2 years ago for a job, he encountered a close-mindedness he didn't expect. What surprised and disappointed him was how often he heard "Why would you want to have straight friends?". So, millennial and Gen Z gays, is this guy's experience representative of attitudes about including straight friends in your social circles? Is San Francisco perhaps unique in that regard? Or, is his experience an outlier? When I was in my late 20s, most of my close straight friends began to pair off, have kids, and move to the suburbs, leaving me feeling bereft. Reacting to that, I made a semi-conscious decision to replace those departing straight friends with gay male friends, since they weren't going to get married, have kids, and move to the suburbs. After all, we gays were always going to be there for each other. Right? Well, that assumption has been usurped by the advent of same-sex marriage and the wholesale shift from gays rebelling against society to gays wanting exactly what everyone else has. So, what role do straight friends play in your life? Do you only socialize with them on the job or when you attend college reunions? Or, are they closely knitted into the fabric of your network
of friends? Today's photo is of a trio of Cariocas on one of the 26 beaches of Buzios, the St. Tropez of Brazil, two hours north of Rio. I was there on holiday with local friends just after Xmas in 1987 and captured these
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