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Intrusive questions are the bane of gay life | Letter

Reader Liz Willows responds to a piece by Arwa Mahdawi about heterosexuals asking if she and her wife are twinsOh how do I hear you Arwa Mahdawi (Strangers on the street: please stop asking me if my wife is my twin sister, 11 June). All my out life (40-plus years), random strangers have found it possible to ask me the most intrusive questions – ones that they would never ask a heterosexual.A couple of recent examples: last week on holiday in Southwold we had dinner in our hotel. The lovely waitperson asked if we were in the same room when I gave our room number, so we then listened carefully. Nope, none of the heterosexuals arounds us got asked. A couple of weeks previously the guy delivering our biomass pellets asked if I was my partner’s mum. That one really stung – she is 60 to my 64! Many years ago (different girlfriend), we got asked the twin question; we never had sex again. Continue reading...

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