Fourth of July and Gay Jokes

First of all, Happy Fourth of July! I know this is being posted on the Sixth of July, but I had a busy weekend and could not update this blog. (BTW, these first 3 paragraphs are boring and about my fourth, you can skip them) So, I spent the day with my family and 2 other families who are close family friends. We are members of this club down at the beach that has pools and jacuzzis and is right on the beach, so spent the day down there and then barbecued there and had dinner then watched fireworks.

The fireworks was quite possibly the most interesting part of the night. From where I was, I could see the the California coastline for miles and miles, and was able to watch 6 different fireworks shows from across the waters. It was all very beautiful. The fireworks show that I was supposed to watch was delayed by half an hour because a report came in of a missing diver. I don't know what this diver was doing going alone, but I assume that he had been missing for a while and nobody realized it until nighttime.

Helicopters were flying up and down the coast with search lights and a large number of lifeguards were combing the beach and nearby cliffs for any sign of this missing person. At 9:30, the fireworks show began, and it was quite good. The coolest thing about this show is that it is not paid for by the city or any public agency. It is all paid for by a woman who owns a house on the cliffs. She spends probably more than $100,000 every year to put this show one. I suspect she is very wealthy.

Well, that was the evening. It was all fun, but there was one uncomfortable moment that I want to detail for you. It was a strange event, so I may have difficulty describing it. Please bear with me.

It was about 6 PM, and all 3 families were seated around a table chatting. Seated next to me was Mr. K. Another man came up and started making small talk and joking with Mr. K. Then, this other man pointed out to Mr. K that one of the buttons on his shirt was undone. This man jokingly reached, scolding him as a mother would, and tried to fix his shirt.

To this, Mr. K reacted in a strange way. He started insinuating that maybe this other man was gay, and then they both dove into a bout of gay jokes. I was a bit taken aback. I had not seen this coming, and I was a bit shocked at how two mature, grown men could say such negative things. Surely, I thought, they must know at least one other person who is gay.

I mean, statistically speaking, they probably know many people who are gay. But then I realized that Mr. K and his friend probably didn't realize that there are LGBT people all around them. As I've already noted, we are an invisible minority, so it is easy for these two men to make gay jokes because they don't realize that there are gays all around them. In fact, I am one of those invisible gays around Mr. K and his friend, and I was seated next to them.