52 pages • 1 hour read

Two Boys Kissing

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-40

Pages 41-60

Pages 61-83

Pages 84-121

Pages 122-138

Pages 139-161

Pages 162-196

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Index of Terms

Anti-Gay Bias

Anti-gay bias is a recurring problem for all of the characters. Each of the characters endures anti-gay bias, whether it’s silent disapproval from a parent or a violent attack from strangers. Avery, Tariq, and Neil also have identities that highlight the importance of intersectionality, when discussing social injustices like anti-gay bias. Avery, as a transgender person, faces discrimination not only for his sexual orientation, but also for his gender identity. When he needs to use a public restroom, he fears that strangers will admonish him for using the bathroom that aligns with his gender and presentation. Tariq and Neil both endure anti-gay bias along with racism. When Tariq is attacked, he isn’t sure, at first, if they are attacking him because he’s gay or because he’s Black; these are both types of discrimination he’s faced his entire life. Neil, similarly, understands what it’s like to be racially discriminated against, as a Korean American, and insists on the similarities between racism and anti-gay bias to his parents when he finds them listening to an anti-gay broadcast on the radio.

Cooper’s story centers on anti-gay bias’s inherent violence, as does Tariq’s attack. Cooper’s suicide attempt comes when his parents violently reject him, after discovering sexual messages from men on his computer.

Found Family

Often, when LGBTQ people are rejected by their birth families, they form families of their own by seeking out people who accept them as they are. In the book, Ryan’s found family is his Aunt Caitlin. Though she is biologically related to him, she is also his haven from his primary family unit of his mother, stepfather, and little sisters. He feels more at home with her because he is allowed to be himself with her, and she doesn’t see anything wrong with his sexual orientation. Craig, Harry, and Tariq form a found family of friends that include Smita, their friend Rachel, and Harry’s parents. Though Tariq’s family isn’t mentioned much beyond his father taking him to the hospital after he was attacked, he forms a lasting bond with Harry and Craig in the months leading up to the big kiss.

HIV/AIDS

The HIV/AIDS epidemic was not exclusive to the LGBTQ community, but because of its prevalence in gay men, it became associated with gay men in the 1980s and 90s. Levithan compares the experiences of gay and transgender people in the 1980s who died from AIDS to the freedom that many present-day queer youth experience. He also uses the experience of those who had HIV-related illnesses to the physical toll that the Big Kiss takes, particularly on Harry. Mr. Bellamy, a gay teacher at Harry’s and Craig’s high school, is the connection between the generation of gay people who died from AIDS and the novel’s contemporary generation of LGBTQ youth.

Queer-Affirming Parents

Many of the characters must navigate wanting to live openly by embracing their orientation with their families. Neil has an unspoken agreement with his family that they’ll never discuss it, even though they know he’s gay. Craig and Ryan both afraid for their families to discover their sexual orientations, and Cooper’s parents react angrily. However, Avery’s, Peter’s, and Harry’s relationships with their parents show how parents not only can accept their queer children but affirm their identities. While Cooper is a cautionary tale, showing what can happen when kids are ostracized in their own home, the reader sees the exact opposite in Harry’s story. His parents not only allow him to be himself but support the attempt to break the world record. They never waver in their support of their son, and their support for Harry bleeds over into support for Craig when his own parents fail to offer it.

Like Harry, Avery’s parents have been supportive of his identity since he was little. His parents also moved around to find both communities and doctors who would affirm him,. Because of their parents’ support, Harry and Avery don’t struggle with their identities, even when faced with an outside world that isn’t always kind.

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Peter’s parents treat his relationship with Neil like any other teenage relationship, and they extend their acceptance to Neil. The experience he has with supportive parents at Peter’s house prompts him to challenge his own parents to admit what he’s sure they know: that he’s gay. Though Neil’s parents don’t reject him in the same way Craig’s do, nor are they angry with him like Cooper’s parents, they opt to ignore what they find difficult to accept. Peter’s parents, on the other hand, drive Neil and Peter to dates, and allow Neil to spend hours at their home daily. Levithan uses these relationships to show the impact of parental acceptance, and to show the reader that loving, affirming families are possible.