Unmistakable Softness (TTBB)

Text (as it appears in the work):

Cheers to growing up Gay with a flaming capital G.

To the limp wrists in our childhood photos, to telling on ourselves before we could talk.

To tears streaked in playground dirt, to the bullies who told us what we were before we knew.

To slurs we picked up, dusted off and made our own.

To trying on our mother's heels.

To their fear we'd die of AIDS.

To the tender disappointment of our fathers, if we were lucky.

To the girlfriends whose hearts we broke when our Gaydar beeped for the first time.

To waiting for a same-sex kiss on TV, only to watch the camera pan away.

To that quality straight actors win Oscars for, but can never get quite right.

To our private, dirty humor, so acerbic it can melt chrome.

To "is he…..you know?"

To our cackle.

To identifying one another in a packed subway and dark park with a glance.

To that swish, to that lisp, and contrapposto.

Cheers to growing up Gay with a flaming capital G.

Cheers to our unmistakable softness.