A letter to Sullivan: "So That Means You Love Each Other" Ctd
Three of my nephews live in southern West Virginia in a town with a lot of bigotry, much of it tacitly accepted. I've made a project of taking them out-of-state on my visits and eventually succeeded in bringing the eldest out to San Francisco, where I live, after overcoming the amorphous fears of his parents.
At about age 13 or 14, on his first visit, John told me that he hated gay people and thought they should be put in jail because they are "against the Bible." No amount of discussion between us or even fussing on my part could change his mind.
I live in an apartment building with a shared courtyard and we're a pretty friendly group of tenants who enjoy spending time together. One rare sunny day, John and I went out to the courtyard to play chess in the garden's 'chess corner.' Two couples were already there, Will and Darren, Jade and Janice. I realized my nephew was thrilled to be hanging out with the grown-ups without knowing that most of the grown-ups were gay. I went inside.
About two hours later, he stomped into the apartment and without preamble announced, "Aunt Michelle, I don't hate gay people any more. And did you know that the clitoris is just for pleasure?"
For maximum funny, my story should probably end there but I have to add that John, now 23, is recently back from 13 months in Iraq serving in the U.S. Army. Of course he has gay friends in the Army. Hate in the abstract is easy. Thanks to some caring and generous adults, my nephew got that monkey off his back pretty early and I hope the experience continues to serve him well. I am so proud of him.