Renee

Renee, age 11

Tiburon, California (1994)

This photo was from a backpacking trip I did with my dad. I wanted short hair so badly back then, but my mom wouldn't let me cut my hair. So my dad snuck me into a cool hair salon on Haight Street in San Francisco to get it all cut off. Badass.

"Happy Trails!"

From as early as I can remember I knew I was different. I would look in the mirror and say it out loud: I'm different from the other kids. It took a seductive Spanish teacher in my senior year in high school for me to fully understand what that difference was.

As a kid, I was a total tomboy. I looked to the boys at my school to figure out what clothes I should wear and I remember begging my mom for boxer shorts in 5th grade. I always preferred climbing trees, hunting for bugs under rocks, and getting dirty, to normal girl activities.

I will admit, however, that I did own a few Barbies. The lack of a Ken doll definitely provided for some early sexual experimentation. I didn't know I was gay at this time, but I knew I was different and I was OK with it. I liked it.

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

Demi Moore (in "GI Jane")

Carrie Ann Moss (in "The Matrix")
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