SOLVED. LGBT - Read in the Late 90s - Gay couple moves to a homophobic small town and opens an antique store - Are tormented by the locals for being gay. [s]

[SotheTom]

Hello, some potential specific spoilers ahead? I am hoping to find this book as it was the first LGBT book I ever read.

I am looking for a book I read in grade school, which would have been in the late 1990s, about a young gay couple who move into a small town.

When they move to this town, the open an antique shop. It turns out, the town is quite accepting of gay people so the store ends up really struggling because no one will shop there.

I do not remember many details beyond this, but I do remember 2 very specific scenes.

One scene, is where the couple finally makes a sale (A big sale) at their shop. To celebrate, they decide to get a pizza! While one of the men is on his way back he encounters people from the town who decide to torment him. They take the pizza and smash it over his head, and I believe this ends up burning him.

Another scene has one of the men gets cornered (I think on a bridge?) by some of the high school kids in the town. They want to know if he is really gay and one of the girls says that the way to tell if a man is gay is by looking at his penis. The students end up stripping him down (I remember the underwear is described as sticking to him like a second skin) and embarrass/torment him further.

Does anyone know the book I speak of?

[SotheTom]

I know the book!

The Drowning of Stephan Jones, by Bette Greene.

Thanks

[Kris]

Glad you found the book, SotheTom. Here's the link - The Drowning of Stephan Jones by Bette Greene.

[Rainbowheart]

Damn, just slightly too late, lol. I knew this one by the title of the post.