My Friend and Protector - 12. Normalcy Moves Aside for Anger, or, Fuck Suspensions

Monday lunchtime - Still with Carlo

I'm still so pissed from the meeting this morning; I need to do something big to protest our treatment.

"What's the matter, Carlo?"

"Principal Sabato. He pulled the four of us into his office this morning and without actually saying the words, told us to stop being gay."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Steve."

"Shit, even I wouldn't pull a dick move like that."

"But you scared him Brandon, when you told him we'd get our dads involved."

"Why would that matter, Lance?"

"Brandon's and my dads are both lawyers, Mark."

"Ah. Yeah, I could see that scaring him."

"I need to do something to protest his ‘no public displays of affection' edict. Guys and girls hold hands, hug, even sometimes kiss in the hallways. We danced close at the dance, and he got his panties all up in a bunch. It's not fair."

"But what can we do?"

"I don't know, Ken. I think we need to go through the student bylaws and see if we can find a loophole."

We went to my house after school and reviewed the bylaws.

"Hey. It doesn't specifically prohibit blowjobs. We can do that."

The rest of us looked at Ken like he was the nutcase he is.

"I hope you're kidding."

It was pretty obvious he wasn't, but the rest of us cut him a break.

"I was."

"Well, I have an idea. I don't care if it's not allowed. Of course, I need at least one of you to go along with me."

"What do you have in mind, Carlo?" Brandon asked.

"Kissing in school, maybe during lunch."

"But you'd definitely get suspended, not to mention out yourself and whoever you kissed."

"I don't want to hide anymore, Lance. I'm sick of the double standards. Straight kids can do stuff that pushes the limits a little. I know plenty have kissed in the hallways with nobody saying anything."

"I have to have my boyfriend's back. Let's do it tomorrow. I think we should make an announcement before, to get everybody's attention. Not sure what…"

"Thanks Brand. I know exactly what to say. I just said it a second ago."

Lance and Ken thought for a minute, looked at each other and nodded.

"We're with you too."

"Yeah."

Tuesday Lunch

As soon as we all finished eating, it was time.

"You guys ready?"

Three yes and two ‘ready for what?' responses.

"We thought of a protest yesterday. We may not see you guys for a few days."

I stand up on our table.

"Excuse me everybody, can I have your attention?"

It only took a few seconds for everybody to settle down. That was good, since Mrs. Akers, the lunch monitor today, started walking toward our table. Shit. We didn't think of that. Oh well, forge ahead and hope.

"My friends and I are going to stage a protest against the inequality…"

"Touch him and we'll sue."

Mrs. Akers backed off. She actually left the cafeteria, probably to get the principal.

"Thanks Brand. We want to protest against the inequality the school shows toward students like us. Guys?"

Lance and Ken stand up, Brand climbs up on the table with me. We all look at each other once. Brand and I kiss first, Ken and Lance follow a second later. Kids are hooting and hollering. Many are clapping.

"I've seen plenty of you straight kids kissing in the hallways, nobody says shit, even if it is against the rules. Well, we want the same freedom."

A handful of couples stand up and join us in kissing. Before long, there are a dozen kids kissing each other. The other eight are boy-girl pairs, but the message was clear. Principal Sabato walks in.

"What's going on here? You two boys, stop that and get down from there. I'll give you three seconds and then you're suspended."

Brand and I kiss for about ten more seconds.

"Why just us? There are plenty of others kissing too."

I noticed another handful talking with someone next to them. Another six or seven pairs joined the kiss protest.

"If you suspend us and not everybody else, you'll have a discrimination lawsuit filed before the end of the week."

Brandon stuck the knife in deeper.

"Do you like your job? Because we sue, you lose it."

"Fine. Nobody gets suspended. You've made your point. Now please stop it."

We all stop, but the rest of the kids all break out in a round of applause. Principal Sabato simply huffed and stormed out. Most of the guys that I know hate gays graduated or were expelled last year. I was surprised as hell when Kyle Gardener spoke up.

"You got balls Carlo. Good for you. Gay or not, you're alright."

The bell rang, scattering everybody to their next class. Walking through the halls to our lockers, we got plenty of compliments. Seems like the whole school liked us standing up to Principal Sabato. He wasn't really that bad until yesterday's meeting, but I guess he rubbed a number of other students the wrong way as well. Another bunch said they took part because we fought for what we knew was right.

Karl caught up to me after classes on his way to basketball practice.

"You rock Carlo. You and your friends. Shit, I don’t know if I could have done that."

"Thanks Karl. I just got so sick of being singled out because I'm different. I was expecting to get suspended, and probably would have if like 20 other kids didn't join in. And they were all boy-girl couples. That meant a lot to me. Like they respected me whether I was gay or not."

"Oh, they do. I heard a lot of chatter the rest of the day. You're a fuckin' hero in this school now. Not just the 20 plus others who joined your little kiss-in protest. I haven't heard one person say anything negative. And believe me, if I did, that person would be sorry."

"I know. I've seen what you can do."

"Yeah. I think I lost a job today."

"What's that?"

"Your protector. You've probably got a hundred now."

"I doubt that. A few, sure. But not all of them will take a stand if some asshole speaks up."

"Don't bet on it. Anyway, I gotta run. I'll see you tomorrow. I gotta eat lunch with my best friend."

"Thanks, Karl. See you."

Wednesday

Lots of handshakes, pats on the shoulder, and thumbs up as I'm walking through the halls this morning. Maybe Karl was right, and I do have a lot of people behind me. I was to find out in homeroom it wasn't just kids. While we were all assigned some quiet reading, my homeroom teacher, Mr. Phelps asked me to step into the hallway for a moment. Needless to say, I was a little worried.

"Carlo. The school is abuzz with what you did yesterday. If I was allowed to, I'd give you a big hug. Since I can't do that, I'd like to say I'm proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. I'm not the most homophobic person in the world, but until yesterday, I was a little. You've shown me that gay people aren't just a bunch of wussies. You're turning into a good man, and I'm happy to know you."

"Thanks Mr. Phelps. I don't think it was so special. I was just tired of being treated differently."

"Treated wrongly. OK, let's get back in before the rest of them cause a riot in there."

"Hehe."

Lunchtime rolled around and I got another shock. Not only did Karl sit with us, but so did Kyle Gardener. ABout half-way through, he and Karl stood up and got everybody's attention. Mr. Phelps happened to have lunch monitor duty. I saw he was smiling, so I knew something was up. Karl proved it.

"Carlo, I want to say for the entire student body how proud we all are of you. We have a little show of gratitude for you."

Karl kissed Kyle. I looked around and I recognized another bunch of basketball, football, and baseball players doing the same thing. Before long, the entire cafeteria was kissing someone. Dozens of boy-boy and girl-girl couples too. Plenty of boy-girl pairs that I knew weren't dating. It wasn't long, but a straight boy kissing another one for five seconds wasn't something that happened every day. Never mind dozens of them. After the kisses stopped, Karl put me up on the table and I got a standing ovation. Apparently, it was loud and long enough to reach the offices. Sabato, Abernathy, and a bunch of other admin folks were standing near the door. They weren't all clapping, but a few were. Mr. Sabato scowled at Mr. Abernathy when he started clapping. I don't read lips well, but I'm pretty sure Abernathy said, 'grow up old man.' Sabato shook his head and left. That prompted the rest of the admin folks to start clapping.

The rest of the school year went by without a hitch. Nobody said anything to any of us about being gay. Another six boys came out, knowing they wouldn't be singled out or picked on. Ten girls admitted they were lesbians. The senior class voted me most respected and most likely to succeed. Even better, they voted Brandon and I King and King of the prom. The newspaper interviewed a bunch of kids afterward and printed an article about the whole situation. Brandon and I passed on being interviewed, but we were recognized as the impetus for Rockaway High School leading the pack in anti-LGBTQIA action is schools all around the area.

Principal Sabato decided to retire at the end of the school year.

Epilogue

Ken and Lance didn't stay together, but both married wonderful men. We keep in touch and get together whenever possible. Both of them went to out of state colleges and settled in their college towns.

Tony Rose served 15 years of his 20-year sentence. He spoke out against gays one too many times. He was found in the shower room, his neck slashed. The man who did it was already serving two life sentences, so he didn't care. He was gay too. Tony's father spent three years in jail for his treatment of Tony on that fateful day that Tony went bonkers. Mrs. Rose divorced him as fast as she could.

Mason Gordon spent a year in juvenile detention for knifing Karl. Afterward, he became a big proponent against anti-LGBTQIA. He even acted as best man at Brandon's wedding.

I had Karl as my best man at that same wedding. Brandon and I went to FSU together and were active in their LGBTQIA society. He graduated and went on to become a software engineer. I majored in pre-med, went on to medical school and became a psychiatrist. My specialty was child psychiatry, but I accepted adult gay and lesbian patients as well. I was still in med school when Brandon and I wed. After graduating and joining a psychiatry group, we fostered then adopted two children who came from broken homes and were ostracized by their parents for being transgender. Billy and Carla finally got the love they deserved.

The End