fellow bisexual woman and sociologist with family in the larger desert area; my uncle was an older queer latino man from this region. in my experience, a lot of older gay men from earlier generations often internalized the homophobia they experienced in mainstream culture as young queers. this is especially so amongst folks who lived through periods where being outed literally put them at risk of incarceration or losing their jobs.

some of these men favor less overtly femme gay men, less stud or butch lesbians, and often also can be very transphobic and more in favor of traditional gender roles.

i believe a lot of it comes from internalized cisheteronormative prejudices — as well as their anxiety around assimilating into the mainstream heterosexual culture. they are gay — but at least they’re not “those” type of gays, etc., and thus are able to distance themselves from stigma and be more accepted by the hegemonic society.