February 10, 2011

Tom

Tom, age 8
Mercer Island, Washington (1974)

Here I am with my little sister at Disneyland, striking a quick drag queen pose.
A favorite pose of mine when I did drag later in life, but I'm surprised how early it started! This photo is especially funny, as my first celebrity crush at age 5 was Mickey Mouse, and I used to be intensely jealous of Minnie Mouse whenever I saw her. I'm glad to see that I got over my resentment.


My dad just sent me old Super 8 home movies on DVD, and there was a lotta gay in me from early on. One 10-minute clip is devoted to older family members trying to teach me to run - without swishing my arms at age 2. They were trying to erase the gay at age 2! Bless their little, caring, fearful hearts.

We moved to a neighborhood across the lake when I turned 5-years old, and I have vivid memories of being gay and wanting to marry some of my close boy friends, even at that age. The feelings start pretty early sometimes. I'm quite confident that I was born this way, and happily so.

But I wish I could have discussed this with my parents. Or with anybody! Whenever the topic of sex, love, and romance came up in my presence, there’d be a kind of painful, frozen silence. Everybody practiced 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' with me. As a result, I was a little behind on the learning curve when it came to seeking healthy gay relationships, rather than acting out a slutty gay stereotype.

But, I'm learning - a lot. And feelin' more normal than ever. The gradual acceptance by society helps. Still, as most of you know, the long road to acceptance starts within.

My first celebrity crush with a human was actor Terry Thomas, which lasted for many years. I had a recurring erotic fantasy where I would crawl through the gap in his front teeth, and fall asleep curled up on his tongue. I so loved his lisp.

Tom's first, famous-person same sex crush:
Terry Thomas
___________________________________________________

Click here - "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
Click here - "My First Gay Crush Blog"
Click to follow my blog with Bloglovin'

2 comments:

Blank Musings said...

I just want to say thank you for this blog and congrats on being chosen as blog of note!

Erin said...

Proof that you are who you are the moment you're born. LOVE THIS!!!