Aaron

Aaron, age 8

Belgium (1993)

I am the diva on the right!! I came across this picture a couple months ago at my parents' house, flipping through photo albums. I saw it and laughed and laughed! It was so funny to me, because I've always known that I was "non-plain" and always had a flamboyant side to my nature. But I don't keep any pictures of me as a kid, so I never really had photographic evidence.

Looking back, I know that I was gay from the first breath I took - and my family must have known as well. One of my earliest memories is being outside playing with my older brother and neighborhood friends, and my brother became enraged at me and so he ran inside yelling and crying. The next thing I know my mother was on the porch, yelling for me to come inside!

What was my brother complaining about? That I was outside acting like a girl!
I remember being so confused, because I was only in the 1st grade and I was like 'What?!!? What am I doing wrong?' How do you tell a 6-year old child that they need to start acting more like a boy!? I never understood what that meant, as I was just being myself!

I remembering being in love with the women singers of the 90's. I wanted to be Coco from SWV or Dawn Robinson from En Vogue. I think that's where that pose came from. I mean, its pretty f*cking awesome for an 8-year old to be that in touch with the camera. Angle, light, pose, FACE!

I look at this picture and feel totally vindicated for all those years of being bullied, mistreated, and told I was wrong. Here I am, in my most natural untarnished state - being happy and gay as a lamb :-)

Aaron's first, famous-person same sex crush:

Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
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Brad

Brad, age 3
Storm Lake, Iowa (1974)

I have tons of photos like this that are indisputable proof that I was a gay zygote.

"Always have been, always will be, just a prairie girl."

In this photo, I'm on the far right, next to my cousins, Missy and Cindy, and we're all dressed as prairie girls. We loved "Little House on the Prairie" on TV, and would always re-enact our favorite episodes. As the youngest cousin, I was always cast in the crappy role of Carrie. (Seriously, all she did was fall down hills or wells. And did you ever understand a word she was saying?

What I love about this photo, is that while my cousins are all decked out in their finest costumes, I cobbled together some kind sad looking prairie drag. And still, I have a huge smile on my face. Probably because my grandmother had just given me the rag doll I'm holding.

The earliest indication that I was gay was around the age of 5 when I wanted to be able to kiss Fred from "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" But I don’t know what the attraction was. The ascot, maybe? My golden childhood is filled with many happy memories: playing with dolls, drawing and coloring, reading Trixie Belden mysteries, and roller skating around my basement to the Xanadu soundtrack.

I wanted to grow up and marry a nice Lutheran boy and either perform on "The Carol Burnett Show" or become the cruise director on "The Love Boat." I did not want to participate in any team sports. The boys were mean, loud and smelly. And I abhorred gym class. Getting changed in front of other boys terrified me. Clearly, I was not just a typical gay child. I was stereotypical.

Unlike the bullies I repeatedly suffered under throughout my entire public school career, my parents never made me feel anything less than accepted and loved. They cherished me for me, celebrating my uniqueness and were always my biggest cheerleaders.

I came out to my folks and my friends in my late teens, and no one blinked. Probably because in their minds they thought, 'Obvious. Table for one.' I received universal support from both my family and my friends. Coming out provided me with the confidence to stand up to my tormenters and confront them about their homophobia.

In the words of my parents, upon my coming out:
"Well, we always knew you were special."

And YOU are special, kids. Celebrate it and never forget that fact.

Brad’s first, famous-person sex crush:
John Schneider ("The Dukes of Hazzard")
I remember the skinny dipping episode, and I was so, um, “moved” that I wrote him a fan letter asking that similar 'unclothed' episodes be made. And John responded by sending his biggest, gay, 8 year old fan an autographed photo!
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Tracy

Tracy, age 7

Yellowstone, Wyoming (1973)

Here I am at age 7, just out of 1st grade, on a family trip. I was with my parents and two younger sisters. We lived in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and spent almost 3 weeks on the road. I was a tomboy from the beginning, and I remember how exciting it was to get this cowboy hat and run around playing cowboys and Indians (and no, we weren't very PC-aware back then...) When I look at this photo now, it makes me laugh - I was so butch and self-confident!

My parents were always very cool and didn't force me to wear girly clothes. And my Mom gave up on dresses before I even hit kindergarten. My middle sister is only one year younger than me, and we often chose to dress alike. Funny, she is a lesbian, too! Our youngest sister, who is straight, is the odd-girl-out.

Boys did not interest me in the least, and I had my first serious crush on a girl in 2nd grade, and I never looked back.

For young gay and lesbian kids who might be reading this -- hang in there and believe in yourself. I am 45 now, and the changes I have seen so far in my lifetime are incredible. When I was your age, I never would have imagined I could be married to a woman, but I now live in New Hampshire and I am.

By the time you are my age, it will be an even more different world.
You have lots of love and happiness ahead of you!

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

Julie Andrews, Helen Reddy, & Karen Carpenter
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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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Joshua

Joshua, age 6

Greenville, SC (1987)

This photo was taken at my first violin recital, where I played "Hot Cross Buns".
I remember my parents calling my violin teacher my "coach" (who's pictured), probably so I felt like I had something in common with the other boys in school!

Around the time of this pic, my Dad and I were at a Braves game in Atlanta. We went to the restroom, and instead of peeing,
I ran up to every urinal in use, pointing at the penis of the person using the urinal while yelling, 'Look Dad, a penis!'

My Dad laughed and rolled his eyes, as this was pretty common for me.

Lucky for me, I have outstanding parents and was never really in the closet. Whether it was putting on my mom's favorite yellow dress (and dancing to Linda Ronstadt's Spanish language album).


Or the time for my senior class career day presentation, when I said that my chosen career was 'escort' - my family always had my back!

I was, however, bullied pretty badly in school, especially in junior high.

Anyone can make it out, though. Today I hold down a successful PR job in NYC, live in a recording studio, and I'm in a couple of awesome bands.

Joshua's first, famous-person same sex crush:
The Count (on "Sesame Street")
I still get butterflies!
But next in line would be Eddie Murphy and Michael Hutchence of INXS.
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Ernie

Ernie, 6

El Cerrito, CA (1982)

Here, I'm standing in the yard of our old house in El Cerrito, in front of the dozens of flowers my mom would plant. That house was convenient, as there was a community center with a swimming pool close by, plus a Safeway and a Baskin-Robbins. And, there was an adult bookstore nearby too, which had a sign outside: "Arcade, 25 Cents." As we drove by - usually to church, mind you - I'd always ask my sister if we could ever stop by and play a video game or two.
'No,' she would reply dryly, eyes fixed to the road.

It's 20 years since the photo was taken, and I’m trying to figure why on Earth
I would pose like this, and I can only think of two things:

One: Putting a foot on a box or a bunch of rocks was the thing to do for kids wanting to look cool. Or Two: Judging by how I have my legs crossed - knee-over-knee, while standing - maybe I'm trying to channel on of those come-hither Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover models.

By junior high, I would learn that the ankle-atop-knee method of leg-crossing was preferred, not the knee-over-knee method. That is, if you didn’t want to get your ass beat in the school lunch room by the other Asian kids who were, in turn, being beat up by the White and Black kids. Clearly, I had not figured that out yet.

But I like how brazen I am in this photo. It's as if I'm on Solid Gold, a show my mom and dad would let me watch as long I practiced the piano for an hour.

Or, I am Miss America - and those f*cking pink and purple flowers in the back are the other 51 bitches who ain’t as fabulous as me.

Ernie's first, famous-person same sex crush:

He wasn't famous: He was a Japanese exchange student in 2nd grade. Minimal English, moved away after the school year, and doomed from the start.
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Brennen

Brennen, age 8

Seattle, WA (1996)

This was shot while shopping for new school clothes, at a visit to the park next door. My 4-year old sister decided it was too warm to wear any clothes at all (hey, we're Scandinavian). Grunge music was huge in Seattle, so my 12-year-old sister was dressed in a plaid button-up. If you saw pictures of her back then, you'd think she grew up to be a lesbian. But there is only one gay in this family.

"Posing as a statue"

I was a latchkey kid of the 90s, so I had little in the way of supervision most days. TV was a big part of me back then: "X Files," "I Love Lucy" reruns on Nick-at-Nite, "Singled Out" on MTV , and "Goddess Kring" on Seattle's public access channel. She's a local, late-night icon of sorts, infamous for her on-air acid trips, poetry, and naked, glittered body.

"Daria," "Beavis & Butthead," and "South Park" were other favorites. My family connected to the Internet in 1998, and I took to it like a duck to water. Let's just say that there were very few safeguards for children on AOL then - and leave it at that.

I've always known I was different. My only friends were girls and adults, and I distinctly remember complaining that the Power Rangers were "too violent" when the other boys talked about it in class. My dad "encouraged" (read: forced) me to play softball, but I'd sit on the sidelines with my friend Megan, waiting for the donuts and apple juice after the game.

I never really equated my being different to anything more than a personal quirk, and I've always been awkward. The only difference between being aloof as a kid and aloof as an adult is confidence.

Hot pink was my favorite color, and I loved to draw pictures of chrysanthemums (I was the only 4-year-old who could pronounce chrysanthemum), fuchsias, and my cat Gingersnap. The other day, my mom apologized to me for never letting me buy the hot pink sandals I always wanted as a kid. I also remember furtively snatching the men's underwear ads from Sears and Target out of the recycling bins, but I never really added it all up with the conclusion that I was "gay".

Seattle is a good place to be gay. I was lucky to grow up there, and with the parents I have. When I came out to them at 16, I basically said, 'You probably already figured this out, but...I'm gay'. My parents were surprised (they actually hadn't figured it out), but it changed little about our relationship. In fact, the first thing they said was, 'This doesn't change anything, we still love you.'

For anyone growing up gay today, I'm happy to report that things are only getting better. Be true to yourself; if someone cannot accept you as who you are, they are not worth your time. But it is very rare you will ever meet people like that, I promise!

Brennen's first, famous-person same sex crush:

Danny Roberts (on MTV's "Real World: New Orleans")

Gael Garcia Bernal usurped his throne a year later, and I often wonder if seeing David Duchovny in a Speedo on 'The X Files' could have made me gay.

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