How did you discover your sexual orientation?

[ccharles000]

I am gay and there are two things in my life that now that I look back on helped me recognize my gayness. When I was thirteen we had showtime and I remember not being able to sleep and was flipping the channels and discovered Queer as folk and became addicted to it. I don't think at the time I realized I was attracted to men. Another incident happened when I visited my cousin we were both twelve and he found some of his dads porno mags and I was repulsed be the naked women. So these two things i now realize helped me come to terms with being gay. I would like to hear from straight and gay people on how they discovered their orientation.

[Parche]

1. I

Have known mine since I was 13............:woohoo: :woohoo:

:hi:

[baby_mouse]

2. My dick was going hard when I thought about men and not when I thought about women.

When it first started going hard.

I have pretty clear ideas about my sexual orientation and always have.

ON EDIT:

Some people may find this post offensive, but it's difficult to see how I can be expected to obscure my answer to a question like that, given the attitudes of some people towards me and my sexual orientation. They are welcome to their opinions, but I know the facts, as they are rather hard to ignore.

[LucyParsons]

3. I realized I was a heterosexual girl when I decided at age 7 that I wanted to marry Davy Jones

Too bad I was 7 in 1986. :cry:

[kiranon]

33. Same response except it was James Dean for my generation.

[magellan]

61. Same again except it was a priest friend of the family

He was God to me! lol

[malaise]

58. When we were riding home from school this boy from another

school always rode along with us. We started chatting after a while. I was 13. We were boyfriend and girlfriend a year after and were inseparable.

[annabanana]

4. I think it was Paul McCartney..

He was so-o-o-o dreamy. . .

[Smarmie Doofus]

12. Saw him in person yesterday.

He still looks pretty good.

[johnaries]

5. I Dream of Jeannie.

Need I say more?

[Neshanic]

64. Yes! You can't leave something like that out there. What was it about it?

[High Plains]

6. Warren Jeffs explained it to me when I was 12.

[Kutjara]

7. In preschool, I developed a major crush...

...on a little girl who came to school every day in a ballerina costume. She rode home in the same minibus with me, and I devoted considerable time and energy to finding out what was under the ballerina costume. She spent an equal amount of time trying to find out what was under my Superman suit. A mutual exchange of data was arranged. From that moment on, I knew I was straight.

[TeamsterDem]

8. Mine was just natural

I'm straight and wasn't really into girls until I was about 12 or so. Some of my buddies were more interested in girls at the time so I sorta wondered what was "wrong" with me. As it turns out I just hadn't yet matured enough and hadn't met the right girl. In 6th grade there was this chick Melanie. Oh man. Once I met her I was hooked. I think the true "cause" was just that I'd finally reached the right age of biological maturity, but her cuteness didn't detract from that process either!

[mmonk]

9. I guess when I fell in love with a girl in the first grade

that made me feel all nervous inside when near her. That kept carrying through to adulthood whereby I married (not the original girl) and learned through trial and error on how not to be so nervous inside. I'm a straight male and I guess that's how I knew.

[soothsayer]

10. same with me! But kindergarten. (guess us lesbians are more advanced...!)

[TeamsterDem]

14. Wow Really? You guys and gals

had feelings of love that young? I experimented with "show-me tag" and other stuff and was always curious about the other sex, but I never fell in love until like 6th or 7th grade. Man, early bloomers!

[mmonk]

17. I guess it hits people at different times.

Can't plan those things I guess.

[mmonk]

15. Must be. I used to walk to kindergarten with a girl but she was just

a buddy of mine. In kindergarten, I was worried with just being liked but I didn't have that nervousness and shakey stomach around anyone in particular.

[TeamsterDem]

39. That describes me until about 6th grade

I was a late bloomer.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

46. mine was kindergarten too...

a little girl with blonde hair named Katrina. They named our classes after flowers...she was a forget-me-not...and I haven't. Funny thing is, I did stick with the hetero orientation, but the brunettes do it for me now!

sP

[Fox Mulder]

11. There was this girl in elementary school who I had a crush on.

I guess that's when I knew. :shrug:

[EOTE]

13. As long as I could remember.

I never thought that girls were 'icky' or anything like that. I can remember hating being so incredibly shy as a child because it made it so difficult to speak with girls. I just admired them from a distance and hoped that they'd be prompted to talk to me.

[noonwitch]

16. I've always been interested in boys

Since I was a little girl.

[Glorfindel]

18. I was 11; the other boy was 13

It was more of a "confirmation" than a "discovery"

[texanwitch]

19. I was 10 years old and I had a thing for Illya Kuryakin,

He was on the tv show The Man from UNCLE.

[frebrd]

50. So...are you a fan of "NCIS" now?

David McCallum plays "Ducky" the Medical Examiner.

[texanwitch]

51. I watch the show sometimes.

I am more of Illya fan then a Ducky fan.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GodlessBiker]

21. I had a man's dick in my mouth and I kind of put two and two together.

[tonkatoy57]

22. Here goes

I was, maybe, four or five years old. I was sitting on my cousin's lap at my aunt and uncle's house. My cousin, who I suppose was in her early 20's then,was preparing to go out on a date with her fiance. She was wearing a cashmere sweater, gave me a big hug, and pulled me to her. When I felt the softness of her breasts, smelled her perfume, and rubbed my face against her sweater...that was it for me. I never had any doubts at all from that moment on. I've been a serious heterosexual since then.

I still have a thing about cashmere sweaters.

[Sundoggy]

52. I think

I have a thing about your cousin now!

[slackmaster]

23. Girl next door

Literally.

[kwassa]

24. There was this issue of Life Magazine

and I just knew somehow.

[Botany]

25. How did you discover your sexual orientation?

When my unit became a compass and pointed out girls.

"I once was lost but now I am found .... " :rofl:



Oh look there is a "Cleveland Girl*" north by north east.


* North Olmsted, Garfield Hieghts, Strongsville, Chardon, and Chagrin Falls ....

I had to make sure.

[gatorboy]

26. Uma Thurman in Dangerous Liaisons sealed the deal.

[klyon]

27. I saw girls, I then new I liked girls. I so I married one.

It was clear from when I was a kid.

[aikoaiko]

28. I think it was 3rd grade when I realized girls were pretty and I wanted to lick them.

;)

[Botany]

31. Oh no you didn't!

I realized girls were pretty and I wanted to lick them

:spray:

[CanisCrocinus]

29. Ann-Margaret

singing into the camera in the opening number of "Bye-Bye Birdie." I remember sitting there in the theater and thinking, "Oh, THAT'S what they're talking about!"

[guitar man]

30. I was about 7

when I popped a chubby over Betty Rubble :evilgrin:

[Sheets of Easter]

32. With a key tied to a kite string.

Seriously, though, I was three, and there was a rerun of "Room 222" on the TV, and Karen Valentine made me feel all mushy and stuff.

[Speck Tater]

34. In 1954 I had a terrible crush on TV's Annie Oakley. I was 9. (straight) NT

[mitchtv]

35. one of my childhoos crushes

[Lex]

36. So you have to be "repulsed" by the opposite sex naked

before knowing you're gay?

Hmmmm.

[ccharles000]

37. maybe repulsed is a bit strong.

I just don't care for the female body.

[Joe Chi Minh]

38. When I was about 4 and saw a girl of about 7 passing in front of the house.

At about the same age, seeing a young woman staying with us breast-feeding her baby, I asked if I could have a turn, and noticed my mother and her giving each other a knowing kind of look.

But I suppose it's possible that might be something a girl of the same age might like, although at about the same age, I know I'd fancied her physically on at least one occasion in a way that I didn't understand, but just knew wasn't good.

[xchrom]

40. while i love all naked bodies -- i didn't ever not know

i was into guys.

and i was definitely the little kid who was always trying to get my friends to play 'doctor'.

[mitchum]

41. Julie Newmar

[Sundoggy]

42. Yep! In My Living Doll, right? n/t

[mitchum]

45. Yes! And I was only 4 or 5 at the time

I wanted to "do something with her"...I wasn't quite sure what that "something" entailed, but I knew it was SOMETHING!
:)

[slackmaster]

55. Yes, on Batman

[taught_me_patience]

43. 5 years old

I got into a stack of my old man's porn. I popped wood. I had no idea why but boy did i like it!

[Javaman]

44. I really dug this girl in my kindergarden class. nt

[Indenturedebtor]

48. Yeah that's when i had my first girlfriend

Julie. Cute as a button hehe. My friend and I called her up and he asked her if she liked me. She said "not in that way" but I sent her a love poem and she decided I was cute. We exchanged candy filled plastic teddy bears and kissed on the bus for the first time. I absolutely adored her!

My first love was in Middleschool. very long story but we stayed together for about 3 years, broke up, became best friends again when we both went to college, and the love was too great to have continued to see my (now) wife. I had to make a very difficult choice. Still miss her friendship terribly and regret hurting her by not being friends any more, but some patterns of affection just can't be broken.

[maxsolomon]

47. 10 years old + playboy =

straight.

[MotorCityMan]

49. 11 years old + dad's porn collection =

Gay.

My brother found my dad's extensive, graphic pornography collection that left nothing to the imagination. That was when I realized I was gay.

Even at the time (which would have been about 1976), I had no problem with it, even though I was raised Catholic. No guilt or anything; I just figured that was how I was and I wasn't going to try to be something I wasn't.

[maxsolomon]

62. to my knowledge, my dad has never had any porn whatsoever

he's catholic, and was born in '36 (same as mccain!). so i GUESS you were lucky. maybe not so much.

[Kaleva]

53. Sears Roebuck catalog

When very young, I'd spend some quality time browsing thru the womens' undergarment section of the catalog.

[zonmoy]

54. Took me a long time because of my fundamentalist upbringing.

for the longest time I believed that my lack of attraction to women was because I had no sex drive. Only in my 30's did I admit that I am attracted to men.

[TroglodyteScholar]

56. I was three or four...

...and I just thought the babysitter was the prettiest woman since Mommy. And pretty in a very different way ;)

[maveric]

57. Watching "Batman" tv series and Julie Newmar playing Catwoman.

Bringing my lustful loins to life.
She was and still is HOT!

[Indenturedebtor]

74. My god look at the hips on her!

No that's not a self affirmation of my man-lust. Just holy hell.... she is hot ;)

[undeterred]

59. Lyndon Johnson

Just kidding!

[texasleo]

69. ban

Just kidding!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

60. Brooke Shields

After seeing the "Blue Lagoon" when I was about eight, I had some pretty intense dreams for a kid that age.

[Firespirit]

63. Probably TMI, but you asked. It was traumatic.

My family weren't fundamentalists by any stretch of the imagination, but they were just... very uninvolved parents. I grew up an Aspie, but didn't realize it until I actually left home, because they didn't have me tested. So I was pretty much out of it, had basically no friends throughout childhood, and spent all my free time creating things for my own imaginary world -- when I wasn't hiding it from the 'rents and lying through my teeth about what I did alone in my room. They thought it was weird for me to be a loner and a waste of time to spend hours working out imaginary things, but were OK with my hermitlike ways if I told them I was studying.

Anyway, the result of this was that I assumed all people looked alike under their clothes -- looked like me -- until about age 11. Yes, 11. I cringe now to think of a kid that innocent being placed among the vulgar little brats that know as much as an 18 year old about sex, but... there it was. That trial-by-fire "education" on such matters was absolutely horrifying, even more so since I had a late puberty, age 13-14, and didn't even comprehend why some of my schoolmates were so fixated on it.

By the time I'd read enough to know about the subject, I was finally in puberty myself, and I found myself finally with two good (female) friends who were also introverts and enjoyed creativity. I developed crushes on them. And my own creative stuff was now starting to include romances. I would illustrate these stories, or sketch out the characters, and I liked drawing shapely and scantily clad female characters. I'd seek out reference material as well. ;) But again, I kept it all to myself, because "gay" was the insult in this 80% Republican area in the Bible Belt. I looked forward to leaving the area.

Then a year or two later I found myself having crushes, in true Asperger style :P, on literary characters. Including a couple of males. Hmm, maybe I wasn't a lesbian after all. In those days I was under the delusion that "bisexual" was synonymous with promiscuous, so I wouldn't even think of labeling myself with that. I clung to the few-and-far-between male crushes and suppressed the other for several years. There were a couple of real-life crushes on men, as well. I cultivated them obsessively.

However, I began to feel that it was a load of crap to pass myself off as "straight" when I rarely even liked to see unclothed male bodies. I'd convinced myself that my past girl crushes were entirely platonic. This coincided with a hormonal disorder that actually did shut down my drive. I decided that I was asexual all along, to avoid the honest alternative. I knew now that "bisexual" didn't mean "slutty" any more than any other orientation, but I was petrified by the implications of it. The fact that I'd spent virtually my entire home life keeping secrets and lying to people (and myself) about basic things, and becoming pretty damn good at it because of my active imagination, meant that I already had a very serious problem trusting anyone. Still do, in fact, and probably always will. But facing facts and identifying as "bi" automatically meant that I could, someday, have to decide to stay with one person and deny the urges for people of a different gender. I feared (still fear) growing resentful of that S.O. as a result. With a core trust issue already in existence, a commitment phobia like that isn't helpful.

What can you do, though. There's polyamory, but I'm a jealous type. I'm probably going to go through a divorce at some point in my life because of this, or just stay single.

Moral of the story: TALK TO YOUR DAMN KIDS. x(

[Regret My New Name]

65. As with everything else... enni meeni mini mo

Actually, I gotta say that there was not "ah-hah!" moment..

[Bennyboy]

66. The Beatles! Ed Sullivan show!

I was being babysat by rachel Self that night. A bunch of her friends came over and watched. I was about 8 and they were about 12. When the Beatles came on those chicks just went wild! All of a sudden I knew that I wanted those chicks to go wild over me. First time I ever had a woodie without sleeping first.

[galledgoblin]

67. I didn't know for sure until I kissed a guy at 18

I nearly gagged... he's a great guy and all and actually a great kisser, but I like women.

[anonymous171]

68. This reminds me of the time Colbert interviewed a gay lobbyist.

I'm a straight male. I've just always been attracted to women of all types.

[Behind the Aegis]

70. Not sure.

I had crushes on guys all my life. I would "borrow" my Dad's Hustler and Penthouses and trace the nude males. I used to make my action figures (male) "have sex" with each other (or what I thought was sex). When I was 11 - 13, I would walk up to guys in the showers at the pool and asked if they had seen my twin brother (it was so I could get close enough to really see their junk, I have no twin). I really didn't know I was gay until I read a book about sex. Looking back now, it was a HORRIBLE book because it described being gay as a bad thing, but I knew it was what I was.

Now, my parents, they should have fucking known when I stood up in the back of the car and belted out "I am Woman" by Helen Reddy!

[MilesColtrane]

71. When I was in the fourth grade, every time I teased Ruth L., and she would just smile at me.

My insides went all melty.

[Missy Vixen]

72. I liked a boy when I was in kindergarten

It started a long, long career (forty-two years or so,) of liking boys. Then it became men.

Supposedly, romantic interest in childhood signals high intelligence. I don't know if this is true or not. :woohoo:

Julie

[Heathen57]

73. Little Kimmy Hale in the first grade.

We stuck together on the playground and sat next to each other in class. I had no idea about love, lust or orientation, but I knew that I enjoyed being with her more than anyone else.

The first real feeling of lust was for a girl named Sharon in the 6th grade. We had just figured out kissing and enjoyed every minute of it.

I've never had a same-sex lust ever. But I can imagine that they would have the same feelings as I do straight.

[dkf]

75. I fell in love with Steve McGarrett when I was five. :)

[and-justice-for-all]

76. Oh, well I think 6th grade was when I was becoming aware...

of my attraction to men.

I knew I was different than. During Jr. High and High School I did try to have girl friends, I even tried to have sex with a couple, which resulted in only reinforcing my desire for men.

My partner even had girl friends in school and fornicated with them too, but at the same time he had mutual masturbation with guys. So he was more Bi and later settled with his Gay side.

I have always been attracted to men, there was always a male classmate or two that I wanted to have sex with. But, I did not know anything about the way I was then. I told a close friend in 11th grade and by the end of high school all my friends knew.

There was nothing that made me Gay, I am pretty sure I was born this way, as I also think of all Gay people.

[NuttyFluffers]

77. fortune cookie told me so.

cracker jacks prize confirmed it.

:hi:

[Aramis]

78. I think you looking for this... http://www2.oprah.com

[Rockholm]

79. Race Bannon on "Johnny Quest"

Really did it for me. Actually, a poster above said it right. Guys just turned me on where women did nothing for me.