The Unlovely Lesbian
Mere Comments
August 09, 2006

A recent conversation with friends on lesbianism brought up what I believe to be a universally known but rarely acknowledged connection between physical unattractiveness and lesbianism. Most (not all, of course, but most) lesbians I have known are far from comely by current standards, but they have usually responded warmly and gratefully to my habit of treating them as though they were worthy of love--which, of course, they are. They first think I do this because I am of a liberal disposition, and wish to show them that I approve of their sexual preferences or life style. If we get to know each other well enough for my opinions to be known, there is considerable surprise, for most have been convinced that disapproval of their sin invariably means hatred of their persons.

The real reason for my disposition is that long ago my eyes came to rest meditatively on a photograph of myself as a ninth grader--a homely, pimply boy, with the proud and complacent face of a self-important, self-satisfied, sophomoric jackass--the kind of kid I naturally loathe. I recalled that I was in body and spirit exactly what I appeared to be in that photo, and wondered how anyone—God, my parents, anybody--could love such a person. I didn't deserve it; in fact, I deserved the opposite. But I was loved anyway. the rest