Why you should celebrate Gay Uncles Day

Author: Harrinei Kumaravel

Integrating Gay uncles into the culture, Guncles day is celebrated on the second Sunday of August every year.

There is always that bachelor in the family who is fun, swoops in just as things are falling apart and is always fun to be around. Be it a football game, a secret sundae party or just plain tantrums Tuesdays, things get better with him around.

In his book, ‘The Guncle Guide’, Glenn Garner notes how the smallest of moments with his twin nieces forged the most meaningful of bonds-

“I sat them on each knee, letting them bawl their eyes out on each shoulder. We just sat there for minutes, and I rubbed their backs until they calmed down and were ready to play again.”

For someone who was still figuring out himself, moments such as these were intricate milestones.

“It was as if at that moment, my big gay version of a biological clock had begun ticking,” he notes.

Gay Uncles day is more than just celebrating their delightful companionship; it is welcoming their complete selves into our family. It denotes parents opening up an inclusive household to children; it means helping inclusion grow and age with the child in the form of his/ her favourite companion.

It also holds significance to the uncles themselves in the sense that they no longer hide their selves. And for some, it is a revelation of own desires in safer realities. It is a day that opens up unexpected allies, most of whom we dismiss out of hesitation. Glenn’s sister told him how she wished he could start a family of his own.

“That was honestly the first time someone in my family other than my nieces and nephews took that kind of interest in my future since I came out as gay.”

Guncles day is every family’s nod at an inclusive world for happier uncles.