gay men and their names

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 3/14/06 12:41:48 PM, stevekl at PANIX.COM writes:


> On Wed, 8 Mar 2006, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
> 
> > for several decades now, many gay men in their 20s and 30s have moved
> > from (childhood) nicknames to full names -- Bob to Robert, Steve to
> > Steven, etc.  this continues to happen, as far as i can see.
> 
> Even though my birth certificate says Steven, I have never responded to
> that name; I don't like it. Very much a Steve. (My mom calls me by the
> Czech equivalent or one of its scores of diminutives.)
> 
I don't know if Arnold has any empirical basis for his observation other than 
anecdotal evidence. I have not noticed this. I know lots of gay Mikes and 
Bills and Tommys, and even one Freddie-Lee, and at least two straight guys who 
demand to be called Thomas. Of course, I would never call Arnold Arnie. Maybe he 
is just projecting his own self-image onto others. (I'm well aware that "Ron" 
is so much a part of my own identity that I even get called that 
professionally, even under fairly formal circumstances, and even though I always PUBLISH 
as "Ronald R. Butters."

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