I'm rather surprised how many people don't know any gays

[Brittain33]

The poll asks "have told you they are gay." It's likely there are many people who know people who are gay, know they know people who are gay, but have never openly broached the subject. It's an awkward thing to say, and not always necessary. How many people this covers, I don't know.

Secondly, gaydar for me is less about mannerisms than about how men interact with me. Eye contact, comfort level, etc.

[Brittain33]

Curious... would that be more comfortable or less comfortable for men you interact with who are gay? That is, uncomfortable as in "potential romantic interest", or comfortable as in "not awkward about emotions, etc."?

Comfortable. If they're uncomfortable on the off chance that there's some sexual tension there, that's very different from straight men being uncomfortable with my being gay. I rarely pick up on the latter, primarily because most men are good at hiding it and behaving with common courtesy.

There's some more I could say here about how this works, but discretion is kicking in.