Pride

Mr. Fob: You know, I've been realizing lately how important it is to me to be perceived as the "bad" kid--the one who's cooler than everyone else because he's above their petty rules.

FoxyJ: Huh. Do you think this need to rebel has to do with the fact that you didn't feel like you could be rebellious as a teenager?

Mr. Fob: Oh, I hadn't made that connection, but it makes sense.

FoxyJ: Yeah, it does.

Mr. Fob: Oh. Wow. I didn't realize this until just now, but that's exactly what "Getting Out"* was about--it was my "screw you" to conservative Mormons because as a gay man I'm marginalized and therefore better than them, and my "screw you" to liberal gays** because as a married gay man I was doubly marginalized and therefore better than them. Wow, I'm shallow.

FoxyJ: I don't think that's how people read it.

Mr. Fob: No, but that's how I meant it.

FoxyJ: I think it's valuable for gay Mormons to be aware of the tension that comes from existing in that space between homosexuality and Mormonism, from being both and yet neither.***

Mr. Fob: Yeah, but it's one thing to be aware of that tension and another to be proud of it.




*If it seems like I bring up "Getting Out" a lot, well, look at how many other titles I have listed under "Fobby Publications."
**Conservative Mormons/liberal gays, in case you don't know, is a false dichotomy.
***I don't think Foxy really talks this way, but I'm having a hard time reproducing her dialogue. Oh, for a constantly running tape recorder!