Breathtaking visual poem shows horror of homophobia and power of love

Get those tissue boxes out. This beautiful, heartbreaking visual poem shows both homophobia and love in a modern age. And it’s a stunner.

BBC’s The Social is a content channel telling the stories of young people in Scotland, by young people in Scotland.

In one of their newest entries, Time for Love, stories of queer young people in Scotland are told as they face discrimination and the fight for love.

It’s told as a powerful poem, complete with visuals that bring tears.

‘We walk hand in hand in the park,’ the poem begins. ‘I’m late and it’s time I make a choice. We’re both boys, you see. If you were to go back and look, you’d see a hundred eyes hurry to objectify this hand in hand stance.’

Elastic social disgrace

There is a palpable fear of being yourself in public. A fear of rejection, of insults and discrimination, of shame. It is a longstanding part of this community, and this poem strikes at exactly that.

It challenges the idea of normalcy, which dictates this fear and shame.

‘See, normality is a crowd-sourced fantasy, but it turns every single silent person in this park into an enemy,’ the narrator continues, as he walks with his boyfriend.

‘I may sound angry, but I’m just scared, because in the midst of this, and this, and that, there’s one person I’m not looking at,’ he says, turning to his boyfriend. ‘Because a face looks different in the daylight than in the night, when at least there’s no one looking.’

It’s not easy simply to kiss goodbye, when the possible consequences are vast.

Maybe, now, however, it’s finally time for love.

https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/poem-homophobia-love/