I’ve been considering how to reply to this for a bit.
As someone who has been on the receiving end of ridicule and the butt of jokes (some of them were in fact “gay” jokes) for years during the teenage (and earlier) time of my life, I can completely relate to this. Jokes about gender or sexuality can hurt deeply.
Here is the deal- It is easy to be supportive by repeatedly telling you Rex to tell the haters to go eff themselves.
I support this too.
The problem is that the haters are not going to go away. As long as you continue to wear the collar, the negative comments will continue.
In my situation it was about a weight problem I had. I was the fat kid. So my solution was to one day just dig down and lose the weight with an “I’ll show those effers!” attitude. I lost the weight, and the comments disappeared.
However your situation is nearly the opposite because you “want” to continue to wear the collar. So unfortunately the reality is that the comments are probably not going to go away because there will “always” be some jackhole, who thinks he’s a funny guy, around to make a stupid remark.
And the fact is that the comments pile up. They don’t “go away” with time or roll off your back as easily as they used to. In fact it becomes harder and harder to keep “doing what you like.” You are left with a dilemma of “giving in to the haters” and removing the collar, or continuing to wear it and put up with the comments... however it has become less and less about the “fun” of wearing the collar, and more about “not wanting to give in.” Either case is “no longer fun.”
“We” will be there to support you as much as possible. And while defending you against the haters when necessary might be honourable, it isn’t going to prevent the comments from being made in the first place. No matter how many times one of us is there to put the haters in their place, one more jerk will come along and make a stupid remark.
And although it might sound like it, I’m
not suggesting you stop wearing your collar. What I am saying is that you will have to develop a thicker skin, because this is an uphill battle you are facing.
All I can say is that we are here to support you and to listen you when you need us. I normally would end something like this by saying “Stay Strong Marine!”... but that doesn’t work for obvious reasons.
So I’ll say...
SSHSHHHHHHHhhhsssssSSSSSSSSsssSSSs!Kevin