Robert

Robert, age 2

Lakeville, Massachusetts (1970)

This photo was taken in my parents' first apartment in rural Massachusetts. That's my older brother next to me dressed as a pumpkin. Obviously it's Halloween, and I'm 2, so I can't take too much credit for the first stab at drag.

It took a lot of cajoling to get my Mother, who is not amused by my love for this photo, to explain why she would dress her two year old son as a girl for Halloween. Finally she admitted, 'When you were a baby, everyone thought you were a girl, so your Father and I thought it would be funny to dress you as one for Halloween. End of story.'

Maybe I didn't pick the outfit, maybe I didn't tie the kerchief - but that extended pinkie is all mine!

I first started to notice I wasn't the same as other boys in 3d grade - playing with dolls at recess with the girls, not playing sports, generally being a loner.
It was really 7th grade, when puberty started to hit, that I knew I was attracted to boys.

Honestly, until the age of 18 I thought it was something I was going to grow out of. Then I turned 18 and realized I wasn't going to grow out of it.

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

Willie Aames and Christopher Atkins in "Blue Lagoon"
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Click here - "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
Click here - "My First Gay Crush Blog"

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