On Homosexuality
Regarding homosexuality I have become absoluty convinced of one irrefutable and instinctive law governing the intuition of straight men. Call it a sixth sense if you want. It is our keen ability to almost immediately sense if another man is gay. At that we are the world's foremost experts.
There are two types of gays. The first is he who upon first glance may not render his "gayness." He is by all physical measures masculine. The dead give away is always the sparkle or glaze in his eyes. Usually from that initial eye contact you know. This can be quite stressful for a "perfectly" straight guy who might quite naturally offer a corteous and pleasant glance. For a smile or any otherwise meaningless exchange can and is often easily misconstrued by this type.
It is interesting to note that the seasoned mature gay usually offers a much more careful initial scrutiny before he lets himself be revealed.
Then there is the second type of gay; he that is physically just plain feminine. I once knew of a young individual in my earlier days who was such. He was one of those guys that you just knew was gay. He was dainty and feminine looking, and had a high pitch voice to match. "How awful," I thought, it must be to be a man trapped inside such a body.
I had always been rather indifferent towards this individual. He was not the particularly talkative type except to those he felt most comfortable with. We rarely interacted. When he talked it was as if his words converged into a blur upon my senses. Then one day, jolting out of one of those blurs like a torpedo, I heard his lips utter something bluntly out of tune. “I wonder if he is gay,’ he said.“ As if a plate had suddenly dropped, his words struck me. About who and with whom he was talking, I don’t remember. I just recall that his tone was both judgmental and condescending.
His words were loud and clear, like he meant to be heard by those around him. The funny thing was that nobody ever judged him. Interesting because we were a rural bunch and it was the Reagan era. That was, however, his defining moment.
It must have represented the zenith of his personal struggle. I was simply caught by his self-assuredness, which somehow contradicted something which seemed so obvious to see. I learned a few years later from a mutual female aquantance that he had indeed redeemed himself, for she had received an invitation to celebrate the blessing of the union between him and his partner.
There are two types of gays. The first is he who upon first glance may not render his "gayness." He is by all physical measures masculine. The dead give away is always the sparkle or glaze in his eyes. Usually from that initial eye contact you know. This can be quite stressful for a "perfectly" straight guy who might quite naturally offer a corteous and pleasant glance. For a smile or any otherwise meaningless exchange can and is often easily misconstrued by this type.
It is interesting to note that the seasoned mature gay usually offers a much more careful initial scrutiny before he lets himself be revealed.
Then there is the second type of gay; he that is physically just plain feminine. I once knew of a young individual in my earlier days who was such. He was one of those guys that you just knew was gay. He was dainty and feminine looking, and had a high pitch voice to match. "How awful," I thought, it must be to be a man trapped inside such a body.
I had always been rather indifferent towards this individual. He was not the particularly talkative type except to those he felt most comfortable with. We rarely interacted. When he talked it was as if his words converged into a blur upon my senses. Then one day, jolting out of one of those blurs like a torpedo, I heard his lips utter something bluntly out of tune. “I wonder if he is gay,’ he said.“ As if a plate had suddenly dropped, his words struck me. About who and with whom he was talking, I don’t remember. I just recall that his tone was both judgmental and condescending.
His words were loud and clear, like he meant to be heard by those around him. The funny thing was that nobody ever judged him. Interesting because we were a rural bunch and it was the Reagan era. That was, however, his defining moment.
It must have represented the zenith of his personal struggle. I was simply caught by his self-assuredness, which somehow contradicted something which seemed so obvious to see. I learned a few years later from a mutual female aquantance that he had indeed redeemed himself, for she had received an invitation to celebrate the blessing of the union between him and his partner.