Doug

Doug, age 8

Port Washington, Wisconsin (1976)

I think I'm about 8 in this family picture, circa 1976. As you can see, I'm holding my beloved Jamie Sommers ("The Bionic Woman") doll. My younger brother got the more macho Six Million Dollar Man, of course.

"A Very (Gay) Bionic Christmas"

Growing up in Port Washington, I adored action figures and dolls of all types. But damn if I didn't love playing with my aunt's Barbie collection.
They had such great clothes!

In all fairness, my parents never made a big deal about buying me the Bionic Woman stuff. I remember asking for Charlie's Angels dolls as well, and got a couple of those.

Around the same time, I had a Miss Piggy puppet. I even took her out to restaurants with the family.  When the host asked, 'Table for four?'
I'd reply (in my best Piggy voice), 'No, FIVE!'  (God, was I a ham!)

I used to sing showtunes at family gatherings - although I eschewed traditional diva-esque numbers for songs like "76 Trombones."

My Grandma used to have a basket of Avon sample-sized lipsticks in her bathroom - and she once caught me applying a nice shade of rose to my lips.

All she said was, 'Isn't it fun to try on lipstick?'

Perhaps my family should have known my orientation, when at about age 4,
I confronted a man at the mall, asking: 'Mister, do you have a penis?'

I'm still curious about those to this day, I suppose...

Doug's first, famous-person same sex crushes:

Billy Mumy (Will Robinson on "Lost In Space")
Ike Eisenmann ("Witch Mountain")
Gil Gerard ("Buck Rogers In The 25th Centurty") *

* This is weird, since I am so NOT into that type of man in my adulthood...
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