"Freedom 90'", "Vogue" and "Real Men" are all examples of gay-themed songs for which straights need not be ashamed they like.
Why would a straight person be ashamed of liking any gay-themed song? (BTW, I don't find
"Freedom 90" or "Vogue" to be necessarily gay-themed.)
To BFM's point, I think of "Real Men" as a gateway song to a more enlightened person. To some extent, bigotry is a learned behavior, and sometimes we need help unlearning bad behaviors. I remember being on the bus while in high school, and mentioning my admiration for "Killer Queen". Somebody asked, sneeringly, if I knew it was a "gay" song. I had not, but, in that moment, I realized that it didn't matter to me. I haven't been embarrassed about liking "gay music" since, though I wouldn't say I was completely comfortable with gay issues yet. "Real Men" (plus 4 years at SF State) gave me clearer insight into the world and myself, and was part of my personal evolution into the goofy but open minded bastard I am today.
I guess I don't feel like I should be embarrassed about liking a song, regardless of its theme.
(Unless, perhaps, if the song isn't very good, in which case it's a "guilty pleasure.")
In regard to the topic at hand, in school I was far more often the victim of adolescent macho
bullshit than the instigator, so if anything I would have been more sympathic to "gay music"
than not. I was also mostly oblivious to my classmates sexuality. I had no idea that McGreevey
was gay. And it was only many years later that I discovered that one of my best high school
buddies was gay, as well as another acquaintance who was a good friend of my brother.
