How body shaming and body dysmorphia affect the gay community | GMA

A recent study showed gay men had lower body esteem and higher rates of eating disorders than heterosexual men, and some are pushing back against what they call bullying within the gay community.
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#GMA #LGBTQ #BodyShaming

[@jimmadson]

I agree with this. I had the opposite issue. I was shamed because I was skinny.

[@sameerolail]

Skinny is better than fat. I am fat,and i get rejected a lot on gay sites, the second they receive my body pic.😭😭😭

[@allinotte4263]

Although socially more acceptable to be skinny I understand. ‘Eat a cheeseburger’ people need to shut their traps about anyone’s body or sexuality or any decisions they make about their life. Unless it puts their life in danger.

[@jimmadson]

@@allinotte4263 Thanks. I have often had people say to me "You would look really great if you gained 10 or 15 pounds." I learned a long time ago to ignore them.

[@allinotte4263]

@@jimmadson we have to ignore them. Easier said than done sometimes. My ten year old son gets body shamed all the time because he is taller and wider than his peers. What do I say to him so he will listen. He’s not at the point of being able to ignore. It’s so sad.

[@jimmadson]

@@allinotte4263 I have no answer. I am 57 years old and it still hurts sometimes. I was lucky, I grew to be 6'2" when I was about 15 and finally filled out. All you can say is that you love him and you will always be there for him.

[@allinotte4263]

As the mother of a ten year old boy this hits home for me. Regardless of his sexuality.. he is only 10 so not sure… 🤷🏻‍♀️ He’s growing fast and is taller and wider than his peers. They call him fat in the dressing room. He participates in 2-3hours of sports a day. I never thought as a mother it would be my son that I had to worry about body image issues. It breaks my heart.

[@Democratsaretrash]

Sounds like you need to toughen up.

[@allinotte4263]

@@Democratsaretrash really 🙄

[@pxmpkinbaby]

@@Democratsaretrash you sound so quirky! 😍😍😍

[@Democratsaretrash]

@@pxmpkinbaby not quirky, realist.

[@barracuda0405]

@@Democratsaretrash calm down man the boy is ten!

[@christiandave7925]

When I was in the closet, I felt very sexy and beautiful, straight people commenting how good I looked and physically fit I was. I joined and won male beauty pageants, walked in a few runway shows as a model. But eversince I came out and joined the gay community, I realized that there are just so many things can be wrong about your face and body. I still get compliments from straight people, they still think I look good and fit but for other gay men, I'm ugly and "Not Fit Enough". I just realized how high gay beauty standards compared to straight. I started feeling bad about myself. Gay men don't even wanna be friends with me because "Im not attractive enough". I archived and deleted all my photos on instagram because I felt bad and ugly from all their comments about my appearance. I developed an eating disorder and even considered taking steroids just fit in this fucked up standards. I know it's stupid but I still want to belong.

[@jm7804]

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and go live life. Doesn't matter if you're gay or straight....grow a pair and stop obsessing like a teenage girl.

[@FriendofDorothy]

you need a life coach or counselor to help you stop caring so too much about what others think.

[@johnathangovender1140]

well im currently living in south africa , and havent had a date since i have been body shamed and beauty shamed .where as some gay men will call you ugly and fat . so my self esteem has dropped and couldnt find any love

[@Bearded_Fox]

So true. I find myself very aware of my weight. So much so that I told straight folk you all already have your girlfriends and husbands, I still need to find whoever I'm supposed to be with so I need to watch my weight lol I know it sounds crazy but the gay community is very much on it regarding weight and body image plus just looks overall so it's a lot. Gay Men live in a different world to that of what people think is the only world and in that world its very tough just trying to look ok a certain way.

[@Gabster1990]

Idk, I'm straight and being an overweight woman at one point, I was invisible.

[@PoorDog69]

Ur not part of the different world buddy, u fake it.

[@Gabster1990]

@@PoorDog69 don't invalidate someone's experiences.

[@PoorDog69]

@@Gabster1990 I'm sorry ;-;

[@KenziahRubens]

I really think I needed to see this to become self-aware of being inflicted by body dysmorphia. Thank you.

[@DjMax-cp8pj]

u are a heterosexual, am i right

[@loveyu2778]

People are the cruelest animals on earth

[@bulkierwriter2772]

That’s why they deserve authoritarianism.

[@FriendofDorothy]

also the only animal that tortures one another....

[@Anthony-op5ju]

The most insulting thing is that none of these people are fat or have any issue. They shouldve interviewed real fat gay men.

[@allinotte4263]

Good Morning America please remove hateful comments from your channel 👍🏻 freedom of speech stops at hate comments.

[@Democratsaretrash]

Poor little commie. 😭😭 Rights don't stop at your feelings buttercup. It's not everyone else's fault you're so fragile.

[@Fuckurfeels7472]

❄️❄️❄️

[@Leno323]

@@Fuckurfeels7472 Clown. 🤡🤡🤡

[@allinotte4263]

@@Fuckurfeels7472 I am a citizen of the world not your shitty country where hate is acceptable and considered freedom.

[@charlesmorgan4485]

Shallow superficiality when sexuality defines u

[@allinotte4263]

It’s not a definition but a part of the puzzle that defines us. Just like ethnicity, region, political stance etc. Or calling people superficial and shallow… 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@Democratsaretrash]

Narcissist often defines these oddities as well.

[@classicleslie6914]

So true and can't say it enough

[@classicleslie6914]

@@allinotte4263 But it doesn't fit as making you whole, only an extension of who you already are apart from it in completeness. Otherwise, it turns into lust which would corrode any soul. Of course, I say this with the greatest respect to and for you.

[@perry5509]

I struggle to put on muscle- I can, but I have to eat tons and go to the gym every single day. If I skip a day or two I start to lose weight and revert to skinny really fast. I've always kinda known that if I were straight, I would have had so many girlfriends by now because girls don't seem to care if a guy is slim. I've been hit on by tons of stunning girls. In the gay world its so different, if you're skinny you're basically bottom of the barrel. I honestly think thats why transitioning can be really tempting for a lot of skinny gay guys. I've thought about it, a lot of my slim friends have thought about it... Because after living your life being overlooked, the idea of getting higher up in the food chain can be really alluring

[@ShyGuySupreme007]

Regardless of sexuality we all get shamed and made fun of, it’s just as a straight guy nobody really cares they tell u to shut up and man up

[@PoorDog69]

How about getting in shape if you don't like your body.

[@PoorDog69]

@@albertowilliams959 How about stop pretending to be gay and be a man facing rejection from girls wuss. 🤨 And also, starting off skinny-muscular is a good start to observe.

[@bulkierwriter2772]

This is why I don’t care about homophobia.

[@PoorDog69]

@@bulkierwriter2772 You got balls

[@bulkierwriter2772]

@@PoorDog69 thanks. I’m gay but don’t get any and am definitely not getting married so I may as well turn on people who have actually done those things.

[@PoorDog69]

@@bulkierwriter2772 Don't worry. And you're welcome.

[@dylankennedy6020]

Meh too many guys seem to think they're owed a masc 20 year old muscle twink and take it personally when the muscle twink isn't down.

[@ScribblebytesWorldwide]

Is Gio Benitez single and ready to mingle?

[@daddygrace253]

Nope, he married a white man.

[@charlesmorgan4485]

Duhhhhh

[@williamaltmeyer8175]

Still to this day, I'm body shammed no matter what. I'm 43 and still get made fun of daily from the gay community.

[@erikpeltomaa9873]

i only have to say that...there is no such thing as gay community and never will its only a community for hot muscular men community if it would be a loving and accepting community then i would call it a gay community but as long when its nothing but body shaming others or try to look soo perfect to fit in then its deffenitly not a gay community when i came out as gay i though that this gay community must be a good place for me to meet other friendly and accepting men but it was not like it at all. All what i met was nothing but broken perverted or those who only wanted me to feel like an outsider i still feel like that today even though i have a wonderful boyfriend who loves and accepts me for who i am unlike so many others who cant im not soo overweigth but not underweigth im avrrage and no matter how much im walking 23,000 steps every day i still look the same it also can be like this because i have hypothyroidism and i have to eat medicine for it the reason why i feel like an outsider because when i see all other gay couples who travels, get married, or even adopt kids i feel like i have no value at all evryday i have to spend time alone because my boyfriend dont live in the same city as i do so we dont see each other daily unlike all these so called perfect couples so i start to feel little irritated and i dont like that. So if i had a question it would be why do all other gay couples have it better than some other gay people.🤔

[@FriendofDorothy]

It's still a community. It's just kind of divided these days as there are so many damn CAPS every year and so much "I don't like so and so's", etc. It's all about personal identity now, not about "What's best for our community?" and not about activism like it was in the '70s. You younger gays realize that you would not have as cushy and easy a time of it as you do today if it wasn't for the activists in past decades who paid the price so you could live more openly and happily, right? READ A HISTORY OF YOUR OWN COMMUNITY; your jaws will drop!

[@irememberla6460]

and dont get started on aging

[@FriendofDorothy]

or being a man who is HIV poz, even if undetectable in an era when we know that U=U. I am SO sick of men online saying "Must be DD free" or "Must be 'clean" yet they will readily take up with any guy who lies to them and claims to be negative. Please, Mary: you think a man into "partying" or drinking like a fish gives a crap about telling you the truth about his HIV status??

[@herrgolf]

Well this was useless

[@WintourSinn505]

? aren't they called "non binary????????"

[@Toxic_nonsense87]

Made up bs

[@decodesigns14]

These people want attention for everything you want the world to feel sorry for your choice..Black people been through more than you ever and keep pushing.

[@babs_babs]

it’s not a choice. ffs you really want to pit lgbt and black people against eachother when your own black trans and gay people face the worst discrimination? worse than u gd stfu

[@lopezz6716]

Wow you suck

[@lopezz6716]

We’re not seeking attention we’re trying to let other gay people know to not hate themselves for their own bodies.

[@ghristophermyers666]

Black people haven't been through more than anyone lmao stfu Every minority is equal

[@bluBlaq33]

I’m Gay and biracial, you act as if Gay Black men don’t experience both issues

[@altertheskyy1]

Why is this relevant

[@IAMYUNGGAF]

Why were you born?

[@DjMax-cp8pj]

is is not much relevant, this is random

[@IAmCiroq]

Who hurt you? Was it daddy or Uncle Johnny?

[@adrian-kz8oi]

​@@IAmCiroqlol

[@Democratsaretrash]

Oh something else for them to whine about 😭😭😭. 🙄

[@jimmadson]

Let me guess, you consider yourself Christian.

[@Democratsaretrash]

@@jimmadson nope, just a realist.

[@lopezz6716]

You have no idea what it’s like and we’re not whining about it. We are trying to love ourselves it’s about you

[@allinotte4263]

Who is ‘them’? Please clarify your views.

[@Democratsaretrash]

@@allinotte4263 if you can't figure that out an explanation is pointless 🙄.

[@redbutterfly88]

They are really doomed. Because they are seeking attentions and even celebs dont really get a positive comments from fans let alone this people. Go live alone in the mountain and u will be well there. Or some far away farm

[@gl3913]

Your comment is extremely false and extremely hateful.... And, there is no evidence of any kind to back up your bigotted crap either.

[@PoorDog69]

Thank you for pointing this out. Sadly alot of these incels in the comment section don't want to reason.

[@DjMax-cp8pj]

Yep that’s true. The thing is that putting hashtags on people is dumb. Like, i can be gay and fat!! F nonsense is it? Get over it 🤓