Secrets, Citrus, and the Sanctity of Williams Sonoma
There are gay spaces… and then there is Williams Sonoma.
Not a store. Not a brand. A full-blown oasis for gays wandering the mall in search of meaning, cookware, and a lemon zester they don’t need but will buy.
The lighting? Immaculate.
The staff? Kind, knowing, and nonjudgmental.
The energy? Like if Pottery Barn and a spa day at Fire Island had a baby.
And while the entire store is borderline homosexual propaganda, nothing hits quite like the Williams Sonoma Lemon Quick Bread Mix.
Truly a miracle in a box. Mac swears by it—mostly because he licks half the batter and bakes the other half, which feels very on-brand for someone who weaponizes his shirtless-ness and still expects applause.
But here’s the thing: standing in the middle of Williams Sonoma, surrounded by citrus-scented dish soaps and Dutch ovens we can’t afford, something deeper always stirs in us. Because the gorgeous truth is: we all carry little secrets. And as Mac likes to quote from AA, “Secrets keep you sick.”
Mark opened up recently about having diabetes—and how he’s spent years hiding it.
Not because he was ashamed of the diagnosis itself, but because it made him feel less-than, fragile, somehow “unclean” in a community that worships vitality and perfection. Sharing it lifted a weight he didn’t realize he’d been carrying, like finally stepping out of the wings and onto the stage.
Bobby shared his own truth: navigating a relationship with a woman while quietly exploring his sexuality.
The emotional gymnastics, the confusion, the guilt—he held all of it in silence for years, trying to be someone he wasn’t before he could fully step into who he is. It wasn't messy because he was dishonest; it was messy because he was human.
And maybe that’s why Williams Sonoma hits so hard for gays. It’s clean, it’s bright, it smells like Meyer lemon, and everything is out in the open. Nothing is hidden. Everything is beautifully displayed. It’s the opposite of shame.
So yes, maybe we go there for a lemon quick bread mix—but what we leave with is a reminder that life tastes better when you stop hiding the ingredients.
