I remember Ron Eli in Tarzan and that I would practice swinging from our bunk beds like they were jungle vines and imagine being Tarzan and marrying Jane, I also imagined a lifestyle of social justice advocacy, traveling the world, protecting the environment and wrestling alligators. Turns out at 2 1/2 years old I already knew who I was and who I would grow to be. Being gay in the Deep South of the United States just made the first 3 decades less pleasant than if I'd been me amongst friends and supportive family.

Now at 45, I'm living Primal (thank you Ron Eli), dating "Jane", fighting for equal rights, cleaning up my own little piece of paradise, traveling to foreign countries, friends with people globally but have decided that I'll leave the gator wrestling to the Irwin Family.

Incidentally, my daughter, now 6 years old, said at age 2 1/2, "Mom, when I grow up I want to marry Bindi, the Jungle Girl." Good taste runs in the family and maybe being a *kitten* does as well. In any case, I believe her and wouldn't at all be surprised to find her wrestling gators. LOL

I'd say 1st grade. I had a crush on a cute little brunette. lol

What a fun post.

I was probably 8 or 9 and I was flipping through the tv when I saw an amazing music video of a wonderful looking woman. I was mesmerized and knew liking another woman made me different from the other girls at school. It's a shame they didn't have DVR back then. The video was K.D. Lang's Constant Craving..haha.

I don't know what my first memory was, but I do know when I learned the word "lesbian" I thought, oh thank god that means it's not just me.

hmmm.. I don't remember ever not being aware. But I wasn't raised to where it was taught to me that it was "different" or "wrong". I grew up with lesbian neighbors, my fav uncle is gay, and one of my moms friend is transgender... The only issues that ever came up in my moms household was of religion and me loving heavy metal. My best friends are Jewish and Pagan and I'm a hardcore metal head so you know who won that battle. My mom didn't voice an issue about gay or rather me being gay till a few years ago when I told her that I was dating one of my friends and the discussion was #1 she thought this person was going to break my heart( eh.. it was 50/50) #2 she said she feared that I wouldn't get into heaven. I just said don't worry about me mom I'm strong and also my god loves me as I am and my god made me gay so there wont be a problem. End of discussion (^_^)

Honesty, I was never exposed to anything gay, but my first memory of being in a "non-hetero" situation was when I was 12. I used to be a big swimmer and was in swim clubs all the time. My parents couldn't always afford to take me to swim meets, so I always went with a another family. They had a girl the same age as me. Anyway, this girl, we were always doing things together like two peas in a pod. One swim meet, we were staying at her grandparent's house and were sleeping in the camper. She told me all of her secrets and cuddled into me and said that she loved me. I told her I loved her too. The next day, she said to me that she didn't really mean that she loved me and I totally broke down and cried and expressed my love for her. She was my first love. After that, I no longer was able to go with them for swim meets and she completely stopped talking to me. It was the most depressing thing I went through at that age. I really didn't know that what I was feeling wasn't "normal" and when I approached my mom about it, she said that that is not how love should be and that it should be between a boy and a girl. So, that was my first experience and I never did express my love to a girl again until I was 27. Sigh.

i had a friend who would come over to play at my house when we were in 2nd grade, so maybe 6 or 7 years old, and when it came time for her to leave, i used to hide her shoes. her mom would tell her to go find them, and i'd try to explain to her mom that maybe she should just sleep over.

I had thoughts about other boys in the 6th grade. I didn't fully understand what was going on at the time, of course, and didn't talk to anyone about it. Went all through junior high, high school and most of college and NEVER expressed this to another living soul. Just didn't have safe places to let this part of me known. Finally did talk to my pastor about it and that was a joke. I lived in an evangelical christian world where same sex attraction was a shameful thing, to be fought against and denied and buried. Really sucks that I carried all that confusion, guilt and shame all through puberty and young adulthood, but it was what it was. The point is that I'm still here. I'll be turning 46 next week and I survived and am still here and if you don't like or accept who I am you are free to leave. Wow, don't know where all that came from. Think I needed to vent a little?