I have been reading since 2019, i just randomly stumbled upon a manhua site one day and read the first thing i saw. Well I liked it and read another one since i finished the last one then this cycle repeats for about 7 years now. I had other hobbies but reading really took me by my neck and I cannot live a single day now without reading 1 to 5 manh......
I can only speak for myself- However, I'd have to deny that statement. I realise that manga and reality and two separate entities, as I'm sure some others will as well.
The only reason I read yaoi/yuri is because I'm lonely. I don't read it to fetishize friends or people who I meet who are homosexual- Because, In a way, that's just disrespectful.