The neat. The compulsively clean. The meticulously fashioned. The gay man?

"My mother commented on my apartment today. I keep a clean home and she said she thought a girl lived here. Do you think gay guys are stereotypically cleaner than straight guys? I have been a clean person all my life and some of my friend used to tease me of being gay. Why do straight guys not think it is just common sense to be clean?" one Gay Life reader pleads.


Are creases and sparkling stemware synonymous with gay men? Are straight men pro dust bunny?

Other readers replied:

• "Heck no! My guy's straight and he's a clean freak! Drives me nuts since I'm a bit of a slob. Also, he takes about an hour in the bath with his hair and looking nice. I'm out in 5 minutes and dressed in 3. I do think there are serious stereotypes that simply don't ring true." - Tiny
• "Since I came out, I find that I am spending more and more time tidying up and cleaning things. Interestingly, I am tidying up and making beds and doing dishes after my wife..." -PeterLeeson
• "My mother wants to start baking and shopping with me and I told her that she was playing too much into the stereotypes because I do not do any of that." -Archmo
• "Before I came out I was told I was very "Metro." Apparently wearing clean clothes every day instead of living in my own filth is "Metro." This is what one of my girl friends said anyway, but I'm not sure if I'm debunking the myth or if I'm supporting it...I've always been the same. Its not like "I am gay" made me start vacuuming all of a sudden. Although, that would be interesting. Are straight boys dirty or something?" -WalkingContradiction

Break the sparkling gay myth or support the maid brigade with your own thoughts on the gay-cleaner-than-straight stereotype.

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