If he is gay why does he act strange around me?

[KyrstenTheDarkAngel]

So there is this guy that goes to a few of my classes and we are both majoring in the same program. I will be honest there was a part of me that knew he was gay based on how he talks, his mannerisms, and so on. Anyway since last semester I started to question why he acts so strange around me. He would act like he is terrified to death of me (keep in mind I am an alternative girl), sometimes he avoids me, he will feel comfortable talking with other people except me (in fact he will often grow quite with me), when I try to be friendly with him during a few exercises in my acting classes, sometimes he acts like a cat got his tongue when I try to talk to him (do keep in mind I am a shy and introverted person so even I am like wtf), one time at the end of an acting exercise I did with him, he gave me a thumbs up (I am not sure what that means but I assume that was his way of being approved of something), he said my name wrong a few times on accident, whenever we do lock eyes with each other he will look at me with relaxed eyes, he fixes his hair when he sees me from a distance, he came up and tried to strike a conversation with me once, he will say bye to me sometimes especially when it is just the two of us around and nobody else, one time his face lite up when he said bye to me, when I did acknowledge his existence and said hi to him he would give this prolonged eye contact, and in the beginning of the second semester we bumped into each other and he acted surprised saying “oh it’s you... good morning”. Those are just the few examples. Anyway, I am not sure what the reason is for his behavior around me... is he secretly attracted to me? Does he have a straight crush on me? Is he repulsed by me? Is it because he knows that I like him and trying to keep his distance? Does he want to be my friend but doesn’t know what to say to me? I don’t know what his deal is maybe I am over reading his actions when it turns out to be nothing? Someone please send help, lol.

He is just being friendly.

He is attracted to you.

He wants nothing to do with you.

He has a crush.

He wants to be your friend but doesn’t know how to talk to you.

[Rainbow_Boy]

It is possible that a man is gay, but finds a woman attractive in a sense different than sexual (as in wanting to have sex with). In this case, he could be finding the woman attractive in the sense of wanting to be in her shoes, i. e. like her.

Now, I'm not saying that's necessarily the case with your friend. He might very well be bisexual and finding you sexually attractive while he may also like men in general. I just wanted to offer the previous case as a possibility, since it very well describes my life. I'm a gay man, while I had thought I was attracted to girls sexually in my younger years. Only later did I find out what I had initially thought to be sexual attraction was actually a yearning to be female and be with men sexually. I remember being intimidated by beautiful girls (especially taller and imposing ones as I'm quite small in size), since I could not measure to them in attracting male attention. One might say it's all in the head, but that's true for all of us, regardless of our sexual orientations.

[NathanDavis]

he could just be somewhat socially awkward, and also have some sort of infatuation with you.

[chriscdi]

he sounds straight to me

[Iron_Man]

Don’t tell me you’re crushing on a gay man

[Cicero79]

What is an "alternative girl"?

[KyrstenTheDarkAngel]

It basically means the goth, emo, scene, subculture.