"...So which one of you is the fork?"

Our household has two different sets of cutlery. Here's how I got my family to remember which one I use, and came out, simultaneously.

I'll set the scene.
It's a normal Sunday afternoon. 'Family Day', as my mum insists. I'm 16. I'm happy, relaxed, optimistic... Oh, and I'm gay.
The whole family is busy setting up the table before dinner. My mum's at the oven, adding the finishing touches to our meal, my sister's at the CD player trying to find my mum's favourite album, I'm at the fridge getting everyone drinks, and my dad's setting the table.
Just a regular Sunday afternoon.
"Who has what cutlery, again?" Dad pipes up suddenly. It is common knowledge in our family that our cutlery drawer contains two different sets of cutlery, and each member of our family prefers a slightly different combination of utensils with their dinner - for example my sister will spend ages digging through the drawer to find the special fork with two sharp prongs and two blunt ones.
But I digress.
The main point here, is that one set of cutlery is curvy and inlaid with a swirly pattern, whilst the other is plain and straight-edged.
I am the only one in my family that won't use the straight cutlery.
"Charli is the only one in the family that won't use the straight cutlery," my sister says, shooting me a knowing look.
This is it.
My heart pounds.
I stick my head in the fridge to reach a long-forgotten bottle of lemonade.
"There's an easy way to remember that," I say, nervously, into the fridge.
There's a small silence.
"Maybe that's saying something," my sister says with a grin, egging me on.
In a light-hearted voice, my mum speaks up from the other end of the kitchen, not being serious. "Do you have something you wanted to tell us?" she laughs.
I have the sudden urge to laugh. I take a deep breath, and remove my head from the fridge, clutching the bottle of lemonade like a lifeline.
"I'm gay."

Published on 20-Feb-2017

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