Some context. I used to work in sexual health promotion for the NHS. Part of my job was teaching teenagers about LGBT issues and discouraging homophobia. This rhetorical question was put to me by a twelve year old, going on 64, in a rural Derbyshire school. He said he could understand “a gay and a girl wanting to go shopping and that” but that a straight man and a lesbian having any kind of platonic friendship was beyond him. I think he deserves a sonnet.
I would, but you are twelve, so you would not
Be drinking beer with anyone, I hope.
You say you think that lesbians are “hot”.
But friendship with them? That’s beyond your scope.
Can boys be friends with girls? You answer yes
But lesbians? You do not think you could
And you might find it hard, I will confess,
For you to find a lesbian who would
Be friends with you. You see them as a joke
Or as pornography. They are not real
To you. You’ll grow to be the sort of bloke
Who doesn’t care how other people feel.
I hope you find her, and she shifts your view
The lesbian who’d have a pint with you.
Tom Juniper Poetry 