Answers in the Pages

by David Levithan

“I don’t know what world you think we live in, Mom,” I said, remembering what Allison’s mom had told the newspaper. “There are plenty of gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and nonbinary people on YouTube and TikTok and all the other things we watch. And other books I’ve read have had gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and nonbinary characters. Kira in our class has two moms, and there are other kids in our school with two moms or two dads or two parents who just want to be called parents. Some kids have nonbinary older siblings. And there’s even a gay kid in my class.” “No, there isn’t,” Mom said. “Yes, there is,” I said. “How can you say ‘No, there isn’t’? That makes no sense.” “Nobody your age can know what he or she is. You’re too young. You can decide those things later, but not now.” “But if that’s true, isn’t it also true that no one can know for sure that they’re straight?”