It's a mode of perception, an attitude, an ethos: in short, it is a practice.' As the New York Times review of his book points out, the thing that really brings gay people together is their culture.
In his new book, How to Be Gay, professor David M Halperin says: 'Gayness is not a state or condition. Gay men and women don't share a place of origin, skin color, socio-economic class, religion, or anything else that would typify their experience. But, then again, maybe they gay community needs some sort of shared experience – outside of the experience of falling in love with a member of the same sex – to bring us together.