<p>Well, I’ll rephrase an opinion I wrote here in 2009. The debate about “gay roommates” is usually misplaced.</p>
<p>Firstly, sharing a private space with someone else is very different than sharing public life or social functions. Having a roommate has a “sexual modesty and avoidance” component as much as having sex-separated bathrooms in a shopping mall - but a far larger extent.</p>
<p>Let’s think: most guys and girls wouldn’t be comfortable having an opposite gender roommate not because they have boobs or not, or because of their voice’s pitch, but because of the presumption that your roommate should be someone who are not generally attracted for you gender, sexually speaking, hence being someone you can change in front of without embarrassments. I am sure I have a lot of female friend I have no flirt/romantic/sexual interest (and vice-versa) whatsoever, and we both know that, yet I don’t think we’d be comfortable suddenly sharing the same room - and I am a mostly no-frills person who make no big deals of it.</p>
<p>Secondly, having openly gay roommates brings issues that can be easily compounded with the sexual option card playing, if any. For instance, I could discuss with a fellow straight dude about sexiling or his excessively spacious girlfriend, without he complaining I’m being “anti-straight” or “heterophobe”. Chances of misunderstandings grow a lot with a gay roommate.</p>
<p>I personally would feel very uncomfortable having a gay roommate. I have gay classmates with whom I work on projects, and some I probably don’t even know (as they don’t make a point or don’t become “gay lifestyle ambassadors”), and things are fine that way. However, I can’t put up with a dude bringing another dude and starting fondling and kissing him on the bed next to mine as I could put up with a roommate engaging in such behavior with a fellow girl, for instance. I would also feel compelled to behave as if a strange unknown straight girl was there, meaning less freedom in small practical things and so.</p>
<p>Finally, you have the issue of overly extroverted, self-declared, flamboyant annoying gay people, which is just an extension of the usual straight stupid jerk who brags around. For those types of gays, I have nothing but annoyance towards. They had better stay out of my way, I can’t stand them as much as I can’t stand, on a long-term proximate relationship, the typical straight party animal folk.</p>