So What!

Clay Aiken is Gay! So What!? Being a gay doesn’t mean he is less human. The way the press makes a big deal out of it reminds me of my own experience when I was in university about 10 years ago.

I was in my first semester of my MBA program at that time. One fine day when I entered my lecture room I noticed that everybody was whispering or talking in a hush-hush manner. I met up with my team mates and immediately asked them what had happened (FYI, there were 5 students in one team, and I was the only girl in my team. At that time I noticed that one of my team members did not arrive yet). They immediately showed me the daily university newspaper. In that newspaper I saw an article written by one of my team members (the one that still had not arrived yet) about him being a gay. It seemed that day was “coming out of closet” day and he decided to tell everybody that he is a gay by writing an article in the newspaper.

After reading that newspaper, the following conversation happened:
Me: So what is the big deal about him being gay?
One of my team members, let say his name is A: Do you mean in your country it is OK to be gay?
Me: I didn’t say that, but this is America, and I always thought that in America being gay is something that is common and acceptable.
A: Says who?
Me: Well, I saw it in the movies. There seemed to be a lot of gay characters in American movies.
A: It’s only in the movies, but the reality is we are not as liberal as that.

Then suddenly the door opened and the guy we were talking about came in wearing a T-shirt with “Yes, I Am A Gay” printed across his chest. Everybody became silent and pretended to read or do something it was so quiet I could almost hear a pin drop. When the class began, I noticed that during discussion time, nobody talked to him. Poor guy! Anyway, in the end everybody accepted him the way he was.

Actually, unlike Clay Aiken, I would have never guessed that he is a gay. He had the most manly look among all of my ream members.