The GBF is here to stay. It has been around far longer than Sex And The City or Will & Grace, far longer than HS and college girls collecting their very own GBF.
When I was not yet out of the closet, I was friends with women, not casual friendships, deep, intimate. When I came out all those years ago, the friendships continued, grew more meaningful. Oh, sure, the odious term "fag hag" was tossed around. But it didn't undercut the friendships.
Whatever it was which made me who and what I am, inside, drew me to women -- similar life views, interests, politics, sensitivity. These women with whom I became close friends were not using me as as their gay trophy, their gay accessory to show off to friends and colleagues. They were close to me because I answered needs unfulfilled by their husbands and BFs.
I was hardly the only gay man with female friends. many gay men were closer to women than to men. We were, natch, mocked for this, looked down on, as if being friends with a woman was somehow inferior to friendships with men. But none of this put a lid on the straight woman/gay man friendships.
Nor will the trendy HS/college girl GBF phenomenon derail what I am convinced is a powerful and inevitable reality -- the natural affinity between straight women and gay men.
In the past couple of months, several articles exploring the GBF juggernaut have appeared. I'm not talking articles gee-whizzing about college girls refusing to let their GBF be friends with others, or some such in pop culture magazines. Both Psychology Today and Atlantic had long, in depth articles exploring the subject. Results of a recent study by Texas Christian university revealed what I could have told them -- straight women and gay men have a lot in common and we gravitate to each other.
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