IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 83

very complicated for me and I’m not yet
ready to face that reality.
NP: Do you think it’s right to not tell
someone the truth?
AA: Hiding the truth has always been
bad, but what can I do? It’s the only way
for me now: living a lie. My sole hope is
that it doesn’t become a lifelong necessity.
NP: What would your family’s reaction
be if at this very moment they found out
you had a relationship with a homosexual?
AA: I can’t exactly answer you, because
it has not happened yet, and I hope it
doesn’t. I suppose some with deny me,
stop seeing me the same way; I know
things will change, and not precisely for
the better. I hope it never happens: as I
already told you, I’m not ready.
NP: You work at a bakery and hang out
in an environment in which it’s assumed almost everyone is a heterosexual. Have you ever spoken openly about
your sexual orientation?
AA: No, because one does not just go
around saying things about one’s sexuality, and I’ve never had a reason for sharing my preferences. I know that some
folks are more homophobic than others,
and yet others respect everybody’s preferences. Of the friends I have, and I
don’t have many, most of them are open
minded, but we never talk about those
things.
NP : What do you their reaction would
be if they happened to find out about
your preferences?

AA: I feel that if they’re my true friends,
and value my friendship, they will understand.
NP: Don’t you think the case could be
the same with your family?
AA: I am doubtful, but it could be the
same with them, but maybe not; I am
always mindful of the fact one chooses
one’s friends, but one’s family is one’s
family for life. What I mean by this is
that friends may not be forever: the case
is that they might better understand.
Sometimes the family makes things
more complicated.
NP: You have been in a homosexual
relationship for five years. If gay marriage suddenly became accepted for
good, would you be willing to get married?
AA: No. I am not interested in marriage
with either a man or a woman.
NP: Why?
AA: I think sometimes one is better off
that way, with no strings attached. How
many people have been together for ten
years, and when they get married, it is all
over? I’d rather stay like this, although I
understand that marriage offers one the
possibility of inheriting what the other
one has, if one dies. What happens to
many homosexual couples that have
been together for a long time is that the
deceased’s family shows up and takes
everything.
I am in favor of marriage, but I’m not
interested in getting married, although I
don’t deny that my way of thinking
could change with the passage of time.

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