I recently took one of my girlfriends out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. We were seated, and started looking over the menus.

I watched a waiter stop at two tables of older, white, cis-het-looking couples, both times standing attentively, asking if they needed anything, and generally looking like a waiter in a fancy restaurant.

Then he saw the two of us sitting there, holding hands.

He quickly made a beeline towards our table and, as he got near, his hands went up from his sides as a big smile broke across his face. He proceeded to chat happily with us for a moment before taking our order and bustling off.

My girlfriend says "our waiter is gay", and I say "watch him at the next table".

Sure enough. He passes a larger table and immediately goes back to his subdued, waiterly demeanor.

I love it when queer folx spot other queer folx and the masks come off. He seemed genuinely pleased every time he stopped by our table (which was frequently) 😊