My First Gay Couple My mother, my brother and I were watching an 8pm showing of Sunset Boulevard. It was at a new venue, so it had been getting a lot of press. My mother had a great love affair with the theatre, so she used to take us to a lot of plays and musicals. She was a member of the center, so we were there for the opening night. During the intermission, we were out in the lobby, doing the whole restroom break/mingling thing, when I saw my mother staring at a couple standing towards the side, talking to each other. She noticed me looking at them, and she said, "It's too bad." I didn't understand what she meant. She went on to to clarify. "You see, the beautiful ones, they are all gay".

Needless to say, I was floored. In my mind, I knew what gay people were, but I thought they lived in a faraway place. I had never seen one in my "backyard" let alone a couple. While my mother and my brother went to the washroom, I just stood in the foyer, periodically trying to steal glances at the couple. They were an extremely well-heeled couple, around their 30s. They were well-groomed, dark features, and I remember them being very tall. Their body language in no way seemed to show that they were a couple; I thought my mother must have been mistaken.

Then, just as the bell rang for the audience to go back in, I stole one last glance at them. I then noticed for one slight instant, one of them put his arm on the other's back. They were a couple, undoubtedly.   ¶ 9:53 PM