Openly Straight

by Bill Konigsberg

I mean, if you accept something, you take it for what it is. Tolerance is different. Less.

And I felt so foreign, lying there, the wind howling outside our window. What was I doing here? Who was Rafe, really? Can you just put a part of yourself on hold? And if you do, does it cease to be true? Straight people have it so much easier. They don’t understand. They can’t. There’s no such thing as openly straight.

You can be anything you want, but when you go against who you are inside, it doesn’t feel good.”

I knew I could have danced if I wanted to, really. But I didn’t, so I didn’t have to. The world needs people who are more comfortable standing still. We keep the earth on its axis when everyone else is bouncing around.