When No Means I Didn’t Know It Would Be Like This

I fell out of the Bed Race at the University of Arkansas

I don't get very many opportunities to speak in the Bible Belt. When a graduate student named Lorraine invited me to speak to gay and lesbian students at the Univerisity of Arkansas in Fayetteville, I was curious.

"How many people are in the Gay Student Union?" I asked.

"Well, I'm just about it," she said. "I mean, there's lots of folks who will come hear you, but most people here aren't out of the closet."

"Anybody besides you?" I asked again.

She thought for a moment. "No."

The leaflet for my talk was bright pink, but it didn't include the words lesbian or gay.

"If you put ‘gay' on it," Lorraine explained, "then none of the gay people will come."

I began to worry whether anyone would have a clue about the subject of my lecture.

"Well, then how will they know it's not a cooking or pottery demonstration?" I asked her.

She laughed at my apprehension. "Don't worry, the place will be packed."

And it was. Word of mouth brought out every possible lesbian within a hundred miles of campus, plus a w…