Queerness isn't just Lady Gaga and overpriced drinks and fauxhawks. It's James Baldwin and Bea Arthur and Gertrude Stein and Gore Vidal.
My mom was a little weepy. My dad was very logical about it. Once they realized you can't change, they wanted to know that you can be happy and be gay. Once they realized that, they were very cool about it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a parent's journey from emotional response to acceptance of their child's identity, highlighting the importance of love and understanding.
In this quote, John Cameron Mitchell shares his experience of his parents' reactions to his sexuality. Initially, his mother was emotional, while his father approached the situation with logic. However, once both parents understood that being gay does not hinder happiness, they embraced their son's identity with acceptance and support. This emphasizes the transformative power of love and open-mindedness in relationships, particularly in families where acceptance of one's true self is crucial.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a pride event to highlight the importance of parental acceptance.
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Let him be great, and love shall follow him. Nothing is more deeply punished than the neglect of the affinities by which alone society should be formed, and the insane levity of choosing associates by others eyes.
If the best of one's feelings means nothing to the person most concerned in those feelings, what reality is left us?
No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.
I say everything's about company. A gourmet meal with an asshole is a horrible meal. A hot dog with an interesting person is an amazing meal.
Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid, even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up, they were so used to quarrelling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently.
No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see it through to the end and learn something from it, but what we learn will be no help in facing the next sorrow that comes to us without warning.