New Reality Show To Air, About People That Are Detached From It

(I’m a queer woman. I am only out to a few close friends. I am hanging out with one of those friends, when one of his friends, an acquaintance of mine, stops by. We are trying to decide on something to watch on TV.)

Friend: “Oh, [Reality Show about LGBT people] is playing; do you guys want to watch that?”

Friend-Of-Friend: “Oh, my God, yes! I love that show!”

Me: “Uh… I mean, it’s not really my taste.”

Friend-Of-Friend: *suddenly hostile* “What do you mean, it’s not your taste?”

Me: “I don’t really like reality TV.”

(For the rest of the evening, she’s ice cold to me. I’m very uncomfortable, and even though my friend tries to smooth things over, it’s obvious that his friend has a problem with me. I leave pretty shortly after. A few days later, I am talking to my friend, and he tells me that this happened as soon as I left the room.)

Friend-Of-Friend: “Oh, my God, can you believe her?”

Friend: “What do you mean?”

Friend-Of-Friend: “She doesn’t like [Show]! Is she some sort of homophobe or something?”

Friend: *one of the three people who knows that I’m queer* “Um… You know, I’m pretty sure that’s not it.”

(It took a few years before I was comfortable living as an “out” woman. When the news finally reached the friend of my friend, she contacted me. She was doing a thesis on gender and sexuality studies, and wanted some personal examples of internalized homophobia. I asked her what specifically she was referring to, and she brought up the fact that I didn’t like that show. I cut off contact, and I’m pretty sure that she still doesn’t understand that some people just don’t care for reality TV.)