Of course, it’s in private, and in a pitch-black room where no one can see, and only for a moment or two. Afterward, I say “thank you,” and she says the same. Then we go to our separate beds on separate floors of the house to sleep. She’s on the first floor and I’m on the third. Don’t want anyone to accuse us of impropriety.

Do you live in the UK?

My high school in rural Kentucky was like this as well. Meanwhile nearly 1/10th of the female students were pregnant and the biology teacher was fucking students in the lab supplies closet. Hopefully not related, but given the way these things are talked about only through euphemism, who knows?

The sex education we received was the type where they just show you a bunch of gross pictures of STDs and tell you abstinence is the only guaranteed way of avoiding them.

Even at 40, people are still being weird to me. I was playing some late-night cribbage in a queer bar in town, just like how I go there every week to play cribbage or hive or chess or go and such; this woman my age was being super flirty with me and wouldn’t stop despite the fact I wasn’t reciprocating the flirts, but that I was still being friendly cause I liked playing bar games with her. Told her I had a go board in my car, she was interested, and she came with to my car to go get the stuff. Once I left the bar, I told her, “fuuuck, it’s like I’m the only sex-repulsed person in the bar, and no one respects it in there, but thanks for being someone I can confide to out here.” Her flirtiness dried up almost immediately, and she insisted that she wasn’t flirting with me for the couple hours prior, like she was trying to edit the past.

I’m not young anymore, why does this sort of stuff keep happening? I don’t get it.

I mean, I’m trans, so that means that (despite being tied for the least perverted person ever) I’m terrified of ever being seen as a pervert.

At least my name isn’t in the Epstein files; can’t say that for other people.