How Do Blind People Discover Their Sexual Orientation?

In this video I'm going to answer
a question

that's as old as the universe.

No, it's not.

A question that comes up on YouTube
quite often is this one:

"How does a blind person know
their sexual preference?"

Right? Because, you know,
you can't see,

so you can't see how pretty somebody is
or what somebody looks like

or any of that kind of thing.

So how do you know?
How the heck do you know?

Answering this question,

I can only give you
my own personal experience.

I can't speak for anybody else
on this one.

I'll just tell you how I knew
what my preference was.

And is.

[Ben laughs]

[Tommy laughs]

So, growing up, the things
that I learned

were all based on my surroundings.

So my parents were straight,
all their friends were straight,

all the characters I saw in television
and movies were all straight too,

and that sort of helped
to steer me in a particular direction,

the direction that I went.

This may not work for other people,

but for me it was just the thing
that felt right to me.

It was the thing that made sense.

And so that's the path I chose.

As I got to be a teenager
and started talking to girls,

you know, then the experience got to be
a little different. Right?

Hormones are starting
to fly around and things,

and starting to get those butterflies
and starting to feel this sort of twinge,

and, "Boy, I like her. She's cool."
You know?

And that's one of those experiences
that I never got from my guy friends.

So in school, for example,
I can't look across the room and go,

"Ooh, I like her. I gotta go talk to her."

Or, you know, "She's pretty,"
or this kind of thing.

No. For me it's all about conversation.

Right? And if I talk to somebody
and we start to click

and we, you know, feel the same way
about certain things,

or, you know, somebody's just got
a cool energy to them,

or somebody's extremely funny,

you know, that's how I get to know
whether or not I like somebody.

Then I have to take the chance
and say, you know,

"Would you like to come
to the Eighth Grade dance with me?"

And then we can stand
against the wall

and never dance together.

ANNOUNCER: We interrupt this YouTube video
for this special announcement.

TOMMY: Hey, I just wanted to let you know
we've got some brand-new merch

available for the next seven days only.

This is our "Blind Caution" sign series.

Now, when I was in high school
there was this big, giant sign

out the front of my door that said,
"Blind Child Area".

I always thought the white stick
would've been enough.

So we came up with our own
"Blind Caution" signs for you as well,

and we put it on some T-shirts,
hoodies and stickers.

There's "Blind Drunk" - that's in case
a stagger isn't enough for people.

You can just read the front of your shirt
and know that you're blind drunk.

There's "Blind Driver". People are always
yelling at motorists on the road.

"Hey, look at my shirt!"

Or my personal favorite,
"Blind Not Buzzed",

because this has happened to me
many, many times.

I'll sit down at a bar
and somebody will say,

"I think you've had
a little too much already, sir."

"No, no, look, I'm blind, not buzzed."

So if any of those interest you

or you'd like to get
some of the classic stuff -

you know, the "Blind Film Critic"
or "The Tommy Edison Experience" stuff,

the link is right there
in the description for the video.

And remember, it's only available
for the next seven days.

ANNOUNCER: We now return
to this YouTube video

already in progress.

TOMMY: You know, one of the things
I really enjoy is the smell and the sounds

of a woman.

Like all the fragrance, right?
The perfume and stuff.

It's just lovely. It's so nice.

And, of course,
some are better than others.

Some people wear a little bit more
than they should.

But, you know, it's all part
of the experience.

The sounds of a woman -

like the sound a woman's shoes make
on the floor sometimes,

you know, like on a cement floor,
you know, in an office building.

Oh, it's a great sound.
I just love it.

Plus girls and women
just have different stuff

than guys do.

And that was attractive too.

And these are some of the things
that helped me figure out

what my preference was.

That's just what I was drawn to.

I just like girls and women.

You know, I love what they have to say.

I like listening to them talk.

I like hearing their stories.

It's no more complicated than that.

So that's really about it.

You know, that's my story
and that is how I knew.

Now, I'm sure that there are
other things that I'm totally not aware of

and things that are going through
other people's heads

that I don't know,

but it's such a difficult question
to answer It really is.

But I will say this:

I don't think sight plays into it.
I really don't.

Without sight I was able to determine
what I liked, who I liked,

and, honestly,

I don't think sight played into this.

I really don't.

You know, I simply liked who I liked.

Well, thank you so much for watching
the video. I hope you enjoyed it.

I'd also love for you to follow me
on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

That's just another way to find out
every time we put up

a brand-new video for you.

BEN: Cos YouTube certainly wasn't.

TOMMY: YouTube ain't doin' it.
They dropped the ball!

In fact, they dropped both balls.