WERE you accused of being gay for wearing the wrong trainers while the other lads rolled around wrestling each other? You might have done these things too, you bender.
Wearing C&A own-brand trainers
Wearing shoes that deviated from what was considered cool by a bunch of hormonally-addled, neanderthal teenagers, ie. Nike Air Max 180s, was very gay. Even worse were trainers with no branding that your classmates would steal and throw on top of a bus shelter while reminding you of your preference for men’s arses.
Being good at any subject other than PE
Any school subject that didn’t involve getting sweaty with other boys then having a shower together was gay. Being top of the class was what clinical psychologists define as ‘mega-gay’. However you got decent exam results and now have a large house and attractive female partner. Which is totally gay.
Liking indie music
Did you like music that wasn’t the violent, misogynistic rap popular in the 90s? Did you enjoy Pulp’s witty lyrics or Nirvana’s angsty anthems? You were gay and so was Kurt Cobain. The only guitar band lads were allowed to like was Oasis. Even now they sometimes have a drunken weep to Wonderwall. That’s not gay though because Noel and Liam were always twatting each other with a tambourine like real men.
Being friends with girls
Hanging out with girls was extremely gay, when you could have been doing rampantly heterosexual things like wedgies and playing chase the soggy biscuit. However you did learn how to act around women and by 16 had a girlfriend, unlike your non-gay mates still having an intense sexual relationship with a crispy sock.
Being in the school play
Being in a school play, even if you were playing someone uber-macho like Stanley Kowalski from A Streetcar Named Desire, was gayer than Julian Clary in the eyes of your male peers. What they were too thick to realise though was that you were the one boy on stage with a bunch of girls, who lusted after your sensitive nature. And even if you were genuinely gay, you didn’t have to hang out with a bunch of bellends at lunchtime.