It was Thanksgiving 1986, at the tender age of 16 that I realized my family was different. For the first time, I brought a girlfriend to the family Holiday dinner. She was a good girl from a good family, and she wasn't ready for what that day would bring. Uncle Garry had been drinking since about 10 AM, while smoking cigarettes on the back porch. It was late afternoon when my Grandmother announced that dinner was ready and we should head to the table. Typical set up of young kids at a small table to the side and the rest of us circling the family table in the dining room. As we sit, Uncle Garry sits directly next to my date. As tradition would have it, we would all take turns to proclaim what we were most Thankful for that year. When it came to my girlfriend, she said "I am thankful for having a great boyfriend and getting to spend this holiday with his family", and a round of awwwwws spread throughout the room. Next up Uncle Garry, who mumbles a few words and then turns to my girlfriend and says, "So, how long did you make him wait before he got a little stinky on his pinky?" 1/2 the family was in shock, 1/2 in laughter and my elder grandma in confusion as she didn't hear/understand what was said. I was mortified, but not surprised and that was the last family Holiday that young lady attended with me.
Fast forward about 5 years....set up is exactly the same as in 1986. Bible thumping Sherry's son decides that he is most thankful "to have a loving family that I know will support me, even though I am gay." Complete despair spread across Aunt Sherry's face, as she finally heard what most of the family had known for years. Her son, a supposed child of God, was homosexual. As she regained her composure, she broke the silence by asking if there were any other bombshells he wanted to drop, to which he replies, "Yes, I also got a tattoo, but its hidden on my hip where no one will see." Sherry musters the strength to ask what the tattoo says....and before he could answer, Uncle Garry blurts "It says I'm a Queer, Stick it Here!"
And the road goes on forever and the party never ends.