Meredith Baxter Comes Out

Alex P. Keaton's mom is gay!  Somewhere, that little dickheaded Republican is having a nervous breakdown right now - and about damn time.

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Cheers to Meredith for having the courage to come out publicly, which as she is says in the NBC interview is indeed a political act, not merely a personal one; and which might just help to change a few people's minds.  Brava!

I always thought she was sexy - for a woman - in a cool, understated, got-my-act-together way.  Not a tits-and-ass blonde.  Not overly girly, either.  And just a very slight boyishness, but only a soupçon.  Looking back now, I can see the lesbian quality; but it never jumped out at me.  These things never do.  I mean hell, I never thought there was anything suspicious about George Clooney, either - until the ex-roommate made me sit through a whole movie of his.

And then I was like, Girlfriend, who are you trying to fool?

The ex-roommate and I chatted about Meredith on the phone last night; and we agreed that women's sexuality - gay or straight - is obviously a very different thing from men's.  Not something I can pretend to understand at all.

Because my first thought on hearing the news was, how the hell can you get to be nearly 60 years old and not know what it is you really want?

But then the ex-roommate pointed out that while men's sex drive peaks at about 18 or 19, it doesn't peak for women until they are in their 30's.  And women are socially conditioned to be the more-or-less passive receptors in heterosexual relationships.  So I sort of see how a woman could drift along, not terribly enthusiastic about sex with men, but thinking that's normal.

And actually, in the last decade I did know two different professional women at work who both were married and yet one day woke up to realize they were gay, got divorced, took up with female partners.  I never got to talk with them in depth about how all that occurred, but I do know it happens.  It's also rather tragic for the husbands; one of the husbands of these two women also worked in the same place, and I got to know him fairly well as a workmate.  The divorce really shook him up for a while; understandably so, when this life you've built for 20 years suddenly disappears.

But of course that's the chance you take with any partner, any spouse, isn't it?  Even if the gay thing is not an issue.  Despite all the prayers and promises and protestations of eternal love - well, there really are no guarantees in this mortal life.  Things change, people change.  You pays your money and you takes your chances.  And life goes on.

And the thought has occurred to me that if the sex roles had not been so very, very rigidly defined by church and state all these many centuries, well, perhaps we would all find our sexuality to be somewhat more fluid than we perceive it to be here in modern Western society.

I guess I can trust my Truckbuddies with this little secret:  once in a great while, and I do mean a great while, your Head Trucker happens to notice something about a woman in passing that otherwise he goes months and years without ever seeing, oblivious to it.  Or again, once in a long, long while, in a moment of repose, an image or thought will flicker through his head like a bat through a cave, a sudden surprise in the dark. 

Surely this must happen to some straight men too, the other way around; only they of course never, ever admit it.  Human nature being what it is, I just have to believe that most people probably wonder once or twice just what the grass on the other side of the fence is like. If it weren't for curiosity, we'd all still be living in the trees, right?

And then once when I was about 35, there was this smart, beautiful, friendly, charming girl in the next cubicle - oh but that was just stupidity on my part, I made a damn fool of myself for about a week with a truly ridiculous thought in mind.  And then wised up and moved on.

So a few times over the years, even I have looked in the mirror and thought with a shock, OMG what if I'm a closet bisexual?  Wouldn't that be a kick in the head?  Grin.

But I hasten to assure my readers that, these odd little side currents and eddies notwithstanding, the main tide flows on strong and full, undisturbed.  Old Man River, he just keeps rolling along, you know what I mean?

BTW - that Matt Lauer is something else, isn't he?  Killer smile.  If only he had a beard or at least a stache, he would be like, soooo damn hot!