Sleepovers are a huge part of social culture in high school. Late nights with lots of snacks listening to your favorite songs are when deep conversations happen and lifelong friendships are formed. But things get a little tricky when you're gay and your bestie just happens to be a member of the opposite sex. When one gay teen asked if he could sleep over at his best friend's house, her mother gave him an answer he definitely wasn't expecting.
Mason Brian Barclay and Houston Shelton are new besties. And like with most new friendships, they want to spend all their free time together, including on the weekends. But Shelton's parents have a strict "no boys" rule when it comes to sleepovers, presumably because if a girl has a boy sleep over, the last thing on their minds is going to be sleep.
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Shelton was planning on having friends sleep over after school last Friday, and Barclay, who identifies as gay, didn't want to be left out of the fun. So the teenager gathered his courage and texted Shelton's mother directly, making his case as to why he should be allowed to attend the sleepover on Friday night.
After he introduces himself as one of her daughter's new best friends, Barclay makes his case. "I think the common meaning behind only allowing the same sex to share sleepovers is due to the typical interest in the opposite sex, which in this case, I do not like the opposite sex." In other words, traditional gender roles are old and boring and I really just want to hang out with your daughter, my best friend, all night. He ends his request with a prayer for extra luck: "Amen."
Barclay's request is sweet, but it's also courageous. It takes a lot of courage at any age to put yourself out there like he did and know you might face rejection (or worse). He's only a teen, but his actions show maturity beyond his years.
Luckily Mrs. Shelton's response was one for the books. (The woman already volunteered to host a sleepover, so we know she's a brave, brave soul.) But as for Barclay's wanting to come? It wasn't her daughter she was worried about. "Hmm. Well my husband is hot. Should I worry?" she replied.
Barclay shared the exchange online, where it quickly went viral. People loved how this teen and mom were willing to have an open discussion about a topic that's an important one to have with our kids as they get to the age of sex and sleepovers.
Others pointed out how important it is to honor teens' preferences about their gender and sexuality, even if that means leaving someone out.
There's no update yet as to whether or not the sleepover actually went down this weekend, hopefully because the teens are still too busy catching up on sleep and posting photos of the night on Instagram to update the rest of the world.
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Either way, Barclay and Mrs. Shelton are our new heroes. He showed us how to boldly ask for what you want while still practicing perfect manners. And she showed us that humor and an open mind can make any tricky parenting situation easier.
