After last night's outburst here, I am rather red-faced with embarrassment, but I'm back.
I spent a rather enjoyable afternoon being the straight man for my very amusing daughter. We have always been able to make each other laugh, which has many times earned us disapproving glares from B. His approach to life is far more serious than mine could ever hope to be.
She and I were out getting lunch, and on the way home, she took me on a tour of all her old high school haunts, quizzing me on whether I remembered this or that friend. She brought up Smokey, a guy she was friends with her senior year. Now Smokey was one of those guys whose friends were all girls, and they all loved him to death. And he was gay.
Which got us into a conversation about my high school days. (Did you write on clay tablets, mom? :D ) I also had several gay friends, although I didn't find out that fact until years later. It was, after all, 1972. There were always guys who seemed to attract girls as friends, but never as girlfriends. It continued on in college. One of my very best friends in college, and my daughter's godfather, was in the closet for years. When he finally came out to me, so many of the puzzling things about him clicked into place. I remember telling him, "Well, of course you are. It makes perfect sense now." He died in the mid 80's from AIDS. I still miss him.
My daughter also has a number of female friends who are lesbians. She played sports all through high school and college (Go ahead, ask me--I don't mind bragging.) Apparently the cliche about female athletes is a cliche for a reason, at least in this instance. She's mentioned several times how she and her team mates used to laugh about trying to field a straight nine.
I'm not sure exactly where this blog is going. I guess I'm just pondering the fact that so many people seem to be so freaked out by homosexuality and to me it's such a non-issue. Maybe it's because I have a brother who's gay, and to me, he's just a guy. Not a gay guy, just a guy. From the number of blogs I've seen about gay marriage, it appears there are quite a number of folks who really think it's a big deal. Believe me, my goal is not to generate more debate on the issue.
It's simply one of those things in life that perplexes me.
