Influencer Sparks Debate After Calling Out Young Gay Men Who Shade 'Gross' Older Gay Men At Bars

LGBTQ+ influencer Chris Stanley has sparked quite a conversation with a video calling out the way many young gay men treat their gay elders.

Stanley made a video lip-syncing to drag queen Tara Dikhof's original screed about what she's witnessed among young gay men interacting with older gay men in the bar scene.

Stanley's take on the matter quickly drew thousands of comments from young and older gay men alike thanking him for speaking out about what many see as an unacceptably cruel dynamic between the two groups.

Stanley captioned his video:

"It’s not hard to respect your elders…"

Which sums it up perfectly. It's long been part of gay culture to wave off gay elders as "gross" and "dirty old men" trying to hook up with younger guys, as if that's some kind of vile crime.

The reality is, of course, that our LGBTQ+ elders are the entire reason young queer people have any rights in the first place, and they had to survive harrowing crises, including the AIDS epidemic, to do so.

In her original video, Dikhof addressed all this and more in searing terms.

She said:

"The way gay men talk about older gay men is disgusting."

She then went on to point out what should be obvious: In many cases, those "gross" older gay men have been coming to that bar for decades and were there first.

"Bob is just sitting at the bar and he's been coming to this bar for five decades, and all of his friends died in an epidemic, and you can't even have a shred of sympathy for him?"

She then pointed out what should be even MORE obvious:

"If there is one guarantee in this world it is that you are going to age..."

"Before you know it you are going to be over 60 years old and do you want little baby twinks to treat YOU like garbage?"

It's an important message, especially given the high rates of loneliness and isolation among the LGBTQ+ elderly, who often have little family or friends to lean on, in part because of the aforementioned AIDS crisis.

But even without that it's just downright mean. There is no harm done by an older person being in a gay bar. If they hit on you, you can just say no like an adult,. There's no reason to act like you've been sickened.

Both creators' videos drew tons of comments from people thanking them for speaking out about the way LGBTQ+ elders are often treated.

It costs nobody anything to be kind, and at a time when our rights are being materially threatened, no LGBTQ+ person should need to be told this.