Boys' Love

      So, there I was, inside a passenger jeepney, and sitting on my  right were two teenage boys who were still in their high school uniforms. They were talking animatedly, sometimes laughing loudly over a stale joke. Nothing wrong with it, except that they held hands while they talked.  Why in heaven’s name would they hold hands? I studied them for a while, they didn’t look gay at first glance, just two typical teenagers happy with each other’s company. Meanwhile, seated in front of us was a woman who would occasionally smile and throw knowing glances at the two boys.

      When I gazed at the two teenagers again, one of them was now softly caressing the cheek of the other, okay, he's probably wiping some dirt off his companion's face. But they were staring at each other as if they were newly discovering the bliss, the heavenly feeling and magnificence of young true love. For a moment there, I was afraid that that they would suddenly sing Lionel Richie's “Endless Love.”

      When I was in high school, which was eons ago, I can only remember one gay classmate (which means I didn't have many gay classmates back then), who, so as to avoid being bullied by some of our straight classmates and get in their good graces, would lend them Tagalog erotic stories in a booklet form which pages were always yellowish and sticky. The booklet would be passed around and read inside the classrooms; sometimes, some of my classmates—so they could peruse it more intently in the hope of gaining more wisdom—would bring it home, making the pages stickier the next day.

      These days, I think, in some classrooms, the gay students now outnumber the straight male students. Not that I have something against gay people, it’s just that they used to perplex the little mind I have—why do they allow themselves to be gay? The opposite sex is far more enjoyable to cuddle with, far more glorious to fall in love with, far more— but it's not like they were given a choice. And who am I to question other people’s feelings or sexual inclination or what makes them happy? Everyone deserves respect with regards to what they are or what they feel, and as long as they're not hurting anyone or not transgressing any law, no one should judge them there. And not even the pope is judging them.