Timatollah

Monday, May 05, 2003
 
Unexpected PDA

Mack and I went to see X2 last night at our one-and-only beachside theater. (Capsule review: It was okay, but I'm not sure I understand why all the fanboys are so head-over-heels in love with it. I'd give it a B: Too serious and slow to be an overall great summer popcorn flick, but with definitely some very good performances and some nice scenes.) Coming out of the theater, we saw these two young men I'd noticed while we were going in.

What was surprising was that they put their arms around each other and stolled out of the theater and down the walkway running across Atlantic Avenue (A1A). They seemed perfectly comfortable about it. I didn't have the sense they were trying to make an impression, piss off the 'phobes, or anything political: they were just into each other in a "young love" sweet way.

This isn't something I expect to see here in Daytona Beach. Every now and then I get a little depressed/oppressed by the regular and ample displays of heterosexual affection -- say, couples walking down the beach -- because I don't feel that a good part of the locals or the visitors would take kindly to my behaving the same way with my lover. I don't necessarily have the balls to be real demonstrative with Mack in public. I try to make a contribution by being out and involved in my workplace and within our families, but I guess I passed a while ago on the idea that the rest of the world would be as accepting as I'd like.

I don't expect the entire world to act like one big gay ghetto (say, Key West or Ft. Lauderdale or Boston's South End or the Castro). So I was moved and challenged and frightened ("oh, jeez, are those two boys gonna piss off some 'phobes and cause a fight that I'd have to get involved in?") and impressed by an unlikely event in an unlikely locale.