I think it's a sign of progress, especially where we live, that Courtney has to regularly "come-out" at work.It's not like she hides the fact that we're married. A wedding picture, among other obvious indicators, is featured prominently in her cubicle. Nevertheless, she regularly gets drawn into a conversation with someone at her workplace where one thing leads to another, which ultimately leads to the whole "I'm gay" thing.
The latest conversation was over Courtney's vanity license plate, which includes the letters M-R-S as in "Dr. & Mrs. S." Of course for most people, where there is a Mrs., it is assumed there is a Mr. Add in a bit of sexism about "Dr." equating to "male" and well, most people are bound to assume that Courtney is in a heterosexual marriage.
So yesterday someone asked Courtney about her license plate, which led to "Which hospital is your husband on staff with... blah blah blah." And once again Courtney had to disclose that she has a wife, not a husband.
Of course she also had to disclose that her spouse isn't a real doctor, but I digress.
Here's what is remarkable to me. This is East Jesus. Courtney's been in her job a year now, yet over and over she's still having these coming out conversations with people. The place is gossip-central, yet no one ever seems to have the goods on Courtney. Apparently,the fact that she's a lesbian isn't gossip-worthy.
5 comments:
That's really interesting.
I got a message on Facebook this week from an old high school friend. She wanted to set me up with some guy. It really surprised me, because I just assumed that the small-town gossip mill (even though she doesn't live there now) had alerted her the fact that my partner is a she and not a he! (Apparently, she didn't notice the "In a relationship" designation on my profile.)
That's actually really a good thing that it's not gossip worthy. I suspect that because she doesn't look like how many people perceive lesbians to look, they immediately assume she's straight. I get the same thing with new teachers/staff all the time. I actually find it really amusing.
Even here is the hippy PNW, both Sara and I are coming out all the time...even at a job I have been in for 3 years!
The 'not a real doctor' thing always makes me laugh!
I think that is progress! I look forward to the day where we are just folks.
I live on the prairie. I have to not only come out all the time, but to endure people telling me that I don't like a "gay." I've tried telling them that gay is not a noun but it never seems to get through.....
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