Sadly familiar story? To whom exactly?

Have you ever read something about gay men and seen terms like "a sadly familiar story," things "we’ve all seen," and "an issue that simply rings true" used to describe something that you just don't recognize in your own life or in those of your gay male friends? It's happened again. There must be two parallel gay male universes, one inhabited by the talking heads of the media, and the other where the rest of us live.