Rudy, age 6
East Los Angeles, California (1986)
This was Halloween at my grandmother's house. My mother was a single parent who didn't have much money to buy a costume, so she borrowed a wig and dressed me up as my grandmother, lipstick and all! I felt so comfortable in the wig and pearls, and wanted to keep it on all night. Looking back, I know this was my way of expressing that "Star Quality" I've always felt inside.
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| "Little Latin Boy In Drag: Rudy 'Rudeness' Garcia" |
My mother took me to see a doctor because she was concerned that I preferred to play with Barbie dolls over GI Joe.
The doctor told her it was healthy, and it would help me express my creativity, and make me a good parent!
So I had lots of beautiful dolls to dress up and style and role-play with my sister!
But once I discovered MADONNA, it was all over for Barbie! I would watch her in awe, rolling around on the floor in tulle, posing for the camera, and singing and dancing with that one star earring!
Soon after, I did my first performance of "Dress You Up" for my teenaged aunts. They were amazed that I knew all the words and dance moves!
If I could say anything to gay youth now it would be this:
Don't ever believe that you CAN'T be who you are!
Find a place or thing that is all yours, and allow yourself to blossom into the beautiful butterfly you will become.
Rudy's first, famous-person same sex crush:
"Marky" Mark Wahlberg
I saw those Calvin Klein ads in his briefs, and thought 'That's what I want'
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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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