This was an interesting story. It made me think of all the times I’ve ever held hands with women in public. My sisters are twenty years my juniors, and I've held hands with them even as adults. I held hands with my college friends from Puerto Rico, and Brazil, who said they did that all the time at home. I’ve had friends from some Arabic and African countries, (all men), who say that it’s very common for men in those countries to hold hands with their male friends, (which is even more interesting since some of those countries are deeply homophobic!) Its bizarre, to me, how people stigmatize perfectly normal human behaviors, like hand holding.