As a gay man who has struggled against the negative stereotype that gay men are "overly" emotional, all I can say is "hear, hear."

In our society, men in particular are expected to suppress emotion, and men who refuse to be chained by that expectation are often shamed.

American/European gay male culture values open display of emotion much more than straight male culture does. In fact, gay men sometimes accuse other gay men of "acting straight" if they don't display emotion. The accusation is not a compliment.

Of course, straight men often don't approve and can get pretty darn misogynistic about it.

I remember one time, I got a phone call in my office from my father who was very ill. I lived a long way away and felt distressed to hear him struggling to breathe.

After we ended the call, I cried (not loudly or anything, just shed some tears) because I was frightened and sad. I thought crying was an entirely appropriate response, but my straight male colleague who happened to be in my office at the time gave me such a shaming look. He didn't literally say "men don't cry" but his look said it for him.

That incident didn't destroy our friendship or working relationship, but it made me distrustful of him for a long time.