A minority report: Not living on the straight and narrow

Andi Bahagia, Contributor, Jakarta

Merry was upset. "I'd kill Taufik if he turns out to be that way," she blustered.

She was probably mentally listing all the potential future problems that lay ahead for her son if he became the dreaded you-know-what: a life on his lonesome save for a perky Pomeranian, the whispers of the neighbors gradually building into a cacophony, all those huge cosmetics, clothing and phone bills as he entered adolescence.

Heaven forbid little Taufik, not even in double digits, would turn out to be light in his loafers, as queer as a concrete parachute, a switch hitter, a latter-day descendant of Socrates, etc.

I heard the story secondhand, and, of course, could not help but take it to heart. These were comments from someone I regarded as a friend, but who was saying that if I were in her son's place, she would take a knife to me.

Of course, her point was probably that while it may be OK for the lady down the road to have a son or daughter who is "that way" -- OK, gay -- it just would not do for her family.