You are what you are

I was on a bus a little while ago which was also conveying a goodly number of young people on their way back from school. One boy, 13-ish, seemed to be the butt of some 'humour' accusing him of being 'gay', and effeminate with it. He was loudly denying both accusations, and, from where I was sitting, mere feet away, the latter allegation didn't seem to have any basis at all. Whether the first point had any truth to it, I've no idea (although I wouldn't be all that surprised if he was), but it made me think about how I reacted at around his age, when I first became aware of the fact that I was gay, how I hated the idea, how many times I wished it wasn't true, how many years I tried to pretend it wasn't, but, how, despite all those wishes and all that pretence, here I am, 40 years on, still gay. I would have liked to have told the boy 'you are what you are, whatever that is', and to encourage him to embrace who he is, to be himself, and to stick two fingers up to anyone who didn't accept the 'real' individual he is. But, of course, you never can intervene in that way, especially given how young he is. All you can do is hope that he finds his own way.

Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B