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Book Talk
“Gold Star”: Teaser for My Bi YA novel
An excerpt from Order in the Court by Casey Lawrence
“I’m a gold-star lesbian, obviously.”
“Gold star?” I asked bemusedly. “I didn’t realize we were being graded, or I would have studied harder.”
Valerie laughed softly. “I got the feeling at Pride that you were a late bloomer. A newbie. Gold star just means a lesbian who hasn’t been with a man. Sometimes, you know, there are girls who aren’t sure so they have sex with a guy to see if they like it. Or they get pressured to date guys by homophobic parents and sleep with guys to keep up appearances while they’re in the closet. Or they’re in denial.” She waved her free hand like she was shooing away the thought. “But I’ve never even kissed a guy. Only slept with ladies. So I’m gold star.”
“You sound so proud of that. Like it’s an accomplishment.” I was surprised but intrigued. The concept had never crossed my mind.
“Well, it just means that I never wavered. I knew what I wanted, and I never succumbed to heteronormativity. Some people think that you have to have had sex with a guy and not enjoyed it to ‘become’ a lesbian, but that’s bull.” Valerie tapped her fingers along the side of her cup as though agitated. “A lot of lesbians take pride in it if they’ve…