Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
What's that, you say? Well, heteronormative is basically the way things are. In other words, heterosexuality is the default—it's the way most people see things in our society. Statistically speaking, most people are straight—according to the world-famous sex researchers at the Kinsey Institute, between four and nine percent of participants surveyed between 1948 and 2011 identified as homosexual or bisexual. And while that certainly indicates that plenty of folks identify as straight, it also affirms that plenty of folks do not.
Boy Meets Boy takes place in a homonormative society, giving straight readers insight into what it's like to live in the world if you're gay. However, the book also shows gay kids what they can eventually hope for—that while they'll likely never live in a world in which most people identify on the LGBTQ spectrum, they do have the option of living in a community in which most people don't identify as straight.
Giving gay teen readers in small towns a glimpse of downtown New York City (where Paul and Tony meet), or San Francisco, or Provincetown, gives them a glimpse of a better world, of a place where nobody bats an eye at homosexuality. And this isn't fiction—these places really do exist.
How's this for imagery:
To our left, a posse of Joy Scouts takes guitar lessons from a retired monk. (We used to have a troop of Boy Scouts, but when the Boy Scouts decided gays had no place in their ranks, our scouts decided the organization had no place in our town; they changed their name and continued on). (10.62)
Can't you just picture a bunch of boys earning their rainbow flag badges?
Paul also says,
We hold hands as we walk through town. If anybody notices, nobody cares. I know we all like to think of the heart as the center of the body, but at this moment, every conscious part of me is in the hand that he holds. (10.61)
In their town, two boys can walk down the street holding hands without being consumed by fear. When you're not thinking about the possibility of being gay-bashed, you can have normal teenage crush feelings—and normal crush feelings rock (even if they get a little rocky sometimes).