I did not participate in "Call in Gay Today", because I work for a very small, very intimate business where my presence was needed.
When one's % of the population is as small as it appears to be (I don't believe Kinsley's 10% unless that includes a lot of 'questioning' and had-a-gay-experience-once crowd, but 2-6% rings reasonable to me), calling in "gay", while providing a noticable presence of gay people in the workplace, does not have the same impact that, say, illegal immigrants ceasing work entirely would (even in the long term, ala months).
I'm still curious about what the message is supposed to be: Are we trying to show that our presence would be missed, or are we trying to merely demonstrate our presence throughout society by a lack thereof on a certain day?
I also rarely, if ever, participate in the Day of Silence. In theory, it is in support of those that can't express their sexuality without horrible consequences befalling them. In practice, its something of a "hey, look, gay people exist, see?" It also doesn't help that many participants don't actually eschew communication, merely the verbal aspects thereof - while internet anonymity helps, the whole point of Day of Silence is a demonstration of ISOLATION, which is entirely negated when you're ASL signing to your best friend, texting them on your phone, or chatting with them on IM. When I've participated, it's been with the demonstration of isolation in mind - I avoid contact, provide the little printed cards explaining the event, and actually perform SILENCE in its intended form.
The gay community is problematically isolated, in many ways, from mainstream culture, and even a little bit of "but why?" can sometimes lead to outspoken critics of the current methods employed being ostracised. It's the same sort of mentality of "if you aren't in lockstep, you're the enemy" mentality one sees from political parties (both, in my opinion, though i do lean Democrat for at least pretending to care about our community) that I find so distasteful.
That said, I'm curious how many people actually noticed Day Without a Gay. Were you aware it was going to happen? Was the number of people missing noticable on a "wow, that's unusual" scale, or just "huh, must be a virus going around" level? Were the people missing those who you expected? Did anyone effectively come out of the closet through this exercise?
Side note: Unless you saw me at a gay event or with a gaggle of gay friends, most people wouldn't guess I'm queer as can be. This is the case, I think, for a majority of gay people I know. Anyone who thinks the gay community consists entirely, or even with a majority, of the stereotyped Jack-from-Will-and-Grace campy queens is seriously mistaken.
Side side note: Not that there's anything wrong with being flamboyant. Some of the most entertaining friends of mine (and a fair share of lovers) have been so, and are generally wonderful human beings, at least at a rate on par with the rest of humanity.
