But taking your pen for a stroll in Chueca isn't the same as walking down the cobblestone streets of your hometown. Where 4G arrives and the activist memes…the LGBTI discourse doesn't always resonate.

If you grew up in a small town... you know exactly what we're talking about.

So get ready and buckle up because in this week's post we're going on a rural getaway (the one I gave you) to tackle the most hackneyed (but no less relevant) clichés of every self-respecting rustic queen.

Small-town faggot: clichés and stages of survival

1. "... Manoli's little one"

You're not from a small town if you've never been questioned by old ladies. 👵🏼 at the point of "And who are you?"

That's what happens when you put down roots in a place with fewer streets than Monopoly and where genealogy and local history are a more appealing novel than Café con Aroma de Mujer at 4 pm on a Sunday.

That's why coming out in the village... means coming out with your whole family, with the neighbors, with the butcher, with the people at the bar... and becoming the unwitting town crier of the fair.

2. You get the Wi-Fi signal, but not the reference points.

Any teenager from rural Spain with a halfway decent internet connection has access to all references and any speeches he wants to turn his world upside down.

But LGBT TikTokers don't walk the streets of your town. “There was a gay man who went to the city, there was another who eventually returned to retire…” . TO You lacked queer friends, bi classmates, boyfriends... mirrors where you could look at yourself and discover yourself like the rest of the kids your age were doing.

3. You collect black backgrounds and photos of naked torsos

And with the sexual awakening and the downloading of sex apps 'I'll catch you here and brush you off in the garden' A curious rural phenomenon occurs: the greater the distance, the fewer faces and reliable information.

I'm very discreet, man... I don't share photos... I prefer not to say anything... nobody knows about my life...

The city's 'buffet' is nothing like the 'summarized and annual menu' (because it doesn't change) of the countryside. And besides the quantity of dishes… they lower the bar considerably. We're not talking about 'quality'… but about 'danger'; because many end up meeting up to have sex with some people… in some haystacks… where the Americans would have already filmed three horror movies.

4. In the village, behind closed doors

Another mantra (quite traditional and folkloric) where intimacy and anonymity are confused... with self-denial.

You stay silent when someone makes fun of gay people on TV, you change the subject when they ask you why you only play with girls, you look away when they try to set you up with a girlfriend from the next town over…

So as not to bother anyone, so your mother doesn't feel ashamed of what people will say, because your grandmother is too old and wouldn't understand... because, ultimately, 'no one in the village needs to know about your situation' And in the end, through silence, you deny things and, therefore, you deny yourself.

5. Modern village style, city palette

Generally speaking, there always comes a time when you decide to leave the village to be; to experience without the communal eye hovering over your shoulder.

Until you discover that the nearest 'city' is not the oasis of diversity and inclusion you expected.

'Potato, provincial, small-town faggot…'

Okay, your Tinder profile gets richer, but not necessarily your access to new circles of trust, because classist people, for all sorts of reasons, still exist in every neighborhood.

6. The village: cage and refuge

Is there a return from rural exile? From the apparent and necessary destiny of flight? Well, unless the wound is serious and still open… always.

The people know us and protect us.

It saw us born, grow up, have our first drinks (if it's in a town in Spain, it was probably too many).

Your town is a part of you, and you will always belong to your town. There you meet people you truly trust. There are people there who truly know you.

And although it was a difficult place to raise a flag and reveal oneself, perhaps with age you too begin to see everything as more diverse, more relaxed, less boorish (starting with you).

As Paquita Salas rightly said: "There have been faggots throughout the history of humanity. ALL OF HISTORY... Can't there be a faggot even in Puente Viejo?"

P.S: At Siwon, we ship creams to any town in Spain. Get yours! Handsomefyer XTRA, For example, to show off a movie star face in the Plaza Mayor and at the street festival.

HANDSOMEFYER XTRA

All-in-one cream with extra coverage and effect 'Have you done something to yourself?'
It covers pores and wrinkles, moisturizes, evens skin tone, and has sunscreen.

We do cool right,
Siwon