A Gay Man’s Female Friends: Women Who Shaped The Education of Josh Chastain
In my novel, The Education of Josh Chastain: A Gay Mormon Memoir, Josh Chastain is a teenage boy struggling to reconcile the discovery of his homosexuality with the deeply Mormon and often homophobic culture that surrounds him. One might expect that, as a gay boy in such an environment, Josh would have few close relationships—particularly with girls and women. In fact, the opposite is true. Women play a decisive and life-shaping role in Josh’s education, survival, and moral formation.
Patty Burleson: Friendship as Mutual Protection
Josh’s closest companion throughout grade school and high school is Patty Burleson, his second cousin by adoption. With her striking beauty—brown eyes, naturally wavy hair, and flawless skin—Patty is widely regarded as the most beautiful girl in Josh’s small rural high school. Yet school does not come easily to her; today, she would likely be identified as having learning disabilities.
Their friendship is built on mutual defense and complementarity. Patty’s presence helps shield Josh from rumors about his sexuality, while Josh helps Patty academically, sometimes crossing ethical lines to ensure she survives a system not built for her strengths. Patty also confides in Josh about the relentless attention she receives from boys—stories that both educate Josh about heterosexual desire and quietly remind him of how different his own longings are.
Lucy Ramírez: Literature, Truth, and Moral Courage
Another crucial figure in Josh’s life is Lucy Ramírez, an older woman who volunteers at the local public library. One of the few non-Mormon Anglos in Josh’s hometown, Lucy quickly recognizes his precocious intelligence and introduces him to the great works of English literature, from Chaucer and the Brontë sisters to Steinbeck, Willa Cather, and beyond.
Lucy also steers Josh toward Fawn Brodie’s No Man Knows My History, the first academically respected biography of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. Already alienated from the LDS Church because of his sexuality, Josh finds in Brodie’s work a framework for questioning official narratives and religious authority.
In one of the novel’s most poignant moments, Lucy shares the story of her failed marriage to a gay man who believed—tragically—that a heterosexual marriage could cure his homosexuality. From this pain, she offers Josh a lesson that profoundly shapes his moral understanding of relationships: honesty is not optional, and self-denial in the name of social conformity can deeply wound others. “Every woman deserves to feel that she’s so beautiful that some man is just dying to touch her,” Lucy tells him—a lesson about integrity that stays with Josh for life.
Other Women Who Guided Josh’s Path
As the novel progresses, other women leave lasting marks on Josh’s development. Mrs. Vogel recognizes his musical talent and nurtures it. Florence Whitmore helps him secure work as a church musician, offering both income and dignity. Joan Felberg, a lawyer, intervenes when Josh is accused—accurately, as it turns out—of prostitution, providing legal advocacy when the system would otherwise discard him.
Saints in a Hostile World
In later life, Josh reflects on these women as his personal saints—figures who offered kindness, truth, protection, and guidance in a world that often met him with cruelty and rejection. Their influence did not merely help him survive; it profoundly shaped his education in the deepest sense of the word.
A Gay Man’s Female Friends is ultimately a testament to the quiet power of women who see, affirm, and defend vulnerable young people. In The Education of Josh Chastain, these women stand as enduring reminders that compassion, intellectual curiosity, and moral courage can be lifesaving acts.