Sean

Sean, age 3

Upland, CA (1976)

I had a young mom (she was 19 when I was born), and she of course still liked to chill and be 'mellow in the 70's' with her friends when I was young. One of her friends had a son named Perry, that I remember I just wanted to kiss so badly.
I remember thinking 'I like him, I want to kiss him on the mouth' - and so, I did.

In the process, I knocked his 2-year old sexiness down to the ground! My mom and her friends just thought this was a riot, so they snapped a couple of pics.
Were they high? I'm not sure she would ever admit that, if so! LOL!

Anyhow, I remember thinking those thoughts and remember that I liked this kiss from Perry. And I wanted more. So in the years following, I 'made out' with a few other little boys until about 7, when kids start getting weird.

I'd have to wait another 7 years for my next boy-on-boy kiss.

Sean's first, famous-person same sex crush:
Robert Urich (in "Vegas")
I watched the reruns at 12, and thought Dan Tana cruising the strip was hot!
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Sean

Sean, age 7

Madison, CT (1994)

I can't quite remember when this photo was taken. I did theater as a child (and still do), so it could have been a head shot for a local play or just evidence of my complete inability - even at the age of 7 - to pass up an opportunity to be in front of a camera and pretend to be famous.

"Drama Queen from the start"

I never really felt "different" in the way that so many other gay guys I know felt growing up. I guess I was just completely oblivious to the fact that there was something different about wanting to play with my cousin's "Bawbies" and dress up in their Snow White costumes. Or demand my preschool re-create the opening number from Beauty & The Beast with myself as Belle (naturally).

I suppose growing up in a loving family and in the theater really sheltered me from any feelings about being different, or the need to conform to what other boys did. Which of course made me woefully unprepared for middle and high school, and definitely impeded my ability to embrace who I was and to come out.

The first thought I have looking at this photo is that I wish to God my hair was still that color. Mostly it just makes me laugh seeing how far I've come in my growth and development in the past 16 years. But also how little I've changed from who that kid in the picture was.

Sean's first, famous-person same sex crush:
Leonardo DiCaprio (in "Titanic")