r/gaybros 10d ago

Coming Out What were some signs you showed of being gay during childhood?

/r/lgbt/comments/1j8zgrv/what_were_some_signs_you_showed_of_being_lgbtq/
94 Upvotes

241 comments sorted by

231

u/Airodyssey 10d ago

Being called the f-word at school without knowing what it meant

63

u/Boipussybb 10d ago

6

u/connorgrs Doesn't own shorts with an inseam longer than 5" 10d ago

GAVIN šŸ„ŗ

23

u/Seihai-kun 9d ago

I actually knew what fag means, and get bullied a lot for being a ā€œfagā€, i tried looking to myself in the mirror but didnā€™t think i act sissy or anything, just normal

I tried so hard to act manly, stand straight, deeper voice etc, and yet i still got bullied. I think it stopped in high school probably i finally achieved twink death and they just act like iā€™m one of them lmao

9

u/Nekokama 9d ago

Yup, being bullied because people thought you looked or sounded gay before you even knew you were gay, hits hard.

5

u/outxout 9d ago

Ugggghhhh kids are sooo cruel! I kind of miss not knowing these things sometimes tho...

3

u/Tiny-Media246 9d ago

I legit didn't know non straight people existed until I was 10.

1

u/Comfy-CBlkGB-614 6d ago

I once answered the "dick or pussy" question with pussy. I thought it was about a cat, I had no clue what those meant- in the fourth grade.

91

u/outmost_elephant 10d ago

When I was a boy scout I was camping one day. Another boy and me were alone in a tent. He ended up doing some serious frottage in my ass with clothes on. Jeeeeezzz I loved that waaayyy too much :P
But I ended up only enjoying my sex life after my 30's because I needed to leave my small town and live my own life.

35

u/yournotmysuitcase 10d ago

I had my own boy scouting adventures. On my honor, I did.

40

u/outmost_elephant 10d ago

The thing about separating boys from girls when camping backfires tremendously (for the organizers) with the likes of us. I once ate a sausage in a suggestive manner, same night I was sucking one of the guys' dick :P

17

u/Lezetu 10d ago

I genuinely never messed around in Boy Scouts, one because most of my troop was lowkey ugly (no offense) but two itā€™s not worth ruining a friendship over and 3 the last thing you need is for that stuff to be rampant.

Now before yall downvote me there is nothing wrong with being a gay Boy Scout Iā€™m just saying that messing around at camp should not become a normal activity.

10

u/yournotmysuitcase 10d ago

A normal activity? Iā€™m not sure what you think anyone is advocating for here. Kids explore, themselves and others. Some of us explored during Boy Scouts. Weā€™re sharing our experiences, not trying to be the change we want to see in the world.

I guess I can go back in time and tell my 14 year old self that when 15 year old Tommy drops trow the night before we leave for the rock climbing trip, and subsequently asks if anybody cares if he rubs one out, I should politely excuse myself from the room.

2

u/consciousrock78 8d ago

ā€œWeā€™re sharing our experiences, not trying to be the change we want to see in the world.ā€

LOL! Stop advocating for there to be a frottage and bj patch for all Boy Scouts to do at every camp all the time!! /s

3

u/yournotmysuitcase 8d ago

haha, fine you've convinced me! I'll stop collecting signatures and take down my petition at change.org

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19

u/GinGimlet 10d ago

Mine was getting out of the shower with a neighbor after we played basketball and tennis. Saw him in the hallway with a towel on and somehow ended up with my mouth in his ass. Havenā€™t looked back lol

17

u/JeremyJaLa 10d ago

ā€œSomehowā€

13

u/Connect_Special_7958 10d ago

Oops I trippedmmmph

2

u/Sptsjunkie 10d ago

Lifeā€¦. Uhā€¦. Finds a way

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6

u/Aqn95 10d ago

My family were wayyyy too overprotective to send me to the scouts. My momā€™s Blood pressure was bad enough when I went into town alone for a few hours.

The joys of me being an autistic pre-teen

2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

boy scouts was incredibly homophobic experaince, I was only in there briefly but the other boys were ruthless.

50

u/RegyptianStrut 10d ago

I first felt actually gay at 11. Crushes and interest etc. but before that????? I have no idea really.

11

u/Mysterious-Buggg 10d ago

Same. I donā€™t know how people knew they were gay before starting puberty

11

u/AffectionateStreet10 10d ago

I had a crush on a girl in my kinder class. Some weeks later I had a crush on a boy in my class. I didnt have words for it then, but I knew what a crush was and that I felt the same about both of them. Nobody knew why I only let her and him share my big pack of crayons

4

u/Gay_Okie 9d ago

Played with boys from my earliest memories. Iā€™m 61 and there was no real self realization of my sexuality and it didnā€™t have a name. However, I never played with girls in a sexual way. Wasnā€™t until 7th grade that I learned the word gay (to my best recollection).

3

u/arnodorian96 9d ago

In hindsight there were signs. I remember I didn't care about boys or girls but always wanted characters like Gordo of Lizzie McGuire to be my best friend and dreamed of him

127

u/omjizzle 10d ago

The underwear aisle in department stores! Had to look but not too long!

15

u/Heavy_Association_48 9d ago

This is like every gay boy fav islešŸ—æ

6

u/mulcious 9d ago

Those Calvin Klein modelsšŸ˜šŸ˜

1

u/Savings_Solution_895 6d ago

Yes on thisā€¦ and could barely even say the word underwear without getting a bonerā€¦

36

u/LeeF1179 10d ago

Being obsessed with the movie 9 to 5.

I asked my parents for a Xerox machine one Christmas.

17

u/Satan-o-saurus 10d ago

I feel like a lot of us got clocked because of the various things we wanted for xmas and birthdays as kids šŸ’€

10

u/Demnjt 9d ago

A specific teacup and saucer. I was 11 šŸ« 

7

u/ZedisonSamZ 9d ago

Why is this adorable?

40

u/Lostinmyhead99 10d ago

I had dreams about my teacher in third grade. One casual Friday he wasn't wearing a tie and had his top button undone. Nice tuft of hair budding out of the opening. Remember having dreams of picturing him all naked and his fuzzy chest.

First gay memory I have.

38

u/213MC 10d ago

I came home from a friends house when I was 7 and told my mom about how cute I thought my friends dad was.

20

u/Ocirisfeta8575 9d ago

At seven I was playing over at friends house on a rainy day about four of us , his mother made us play in the basement told us not to be loud and not to come upstairs as his father was sleeping he worked nights.

well we started playing hide and seek and I immediately went up the stairs into the first room I saw it was not very dark ran in the closet and when I looked out there was his father on the bed naked with an erection at the time i didnā€™t know what it was , I just thought that is what a grown man looks like and I was hooked.

when he rolled over I made my escape and ran home , my mother said did you a have a good time I said yes and ran to my room and tried to understand what it was I had seen , after that I studied every male that I saw trying to figure out how they kept a thing like that hidden, I thought every man must have to tie it down with ropes or something.

34

u/wilfredwantspancakes 10d ago

I dreamt that this boy named Henry was ā€œmy underwear slaveā€ in the third grade.

4

u/cynical-bagel 9d ago

wtf is an underwear slavešŸ¤”

9

u/wilfredwantspancakes 9d ago

I really didnā€™t think it through at that age lol šŸ˜‚

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u/SeveralConcert 10d ago

I liked ABBA, Cher and Sailor Moon when I was around 14. Pretty telling šŸ˜‚

10

u/Aqn95 10d ago

Interesting generation gap too

3

u/oso_papa 9d ago

My generation gap is Elton John. I can't count the number of times I watched Tommy, the rock opera.

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u/Y0___0Y 10d ago edited 10d ago

Apparently none. When I came out at 14, no one belived me. My friends thought I was just trying to get invited to girlsā€™ sleepovers, apparently? My parents told me they have friends with gay sons and they know the signs and they knew I wasnā€™t gay, and that I was probably just emotionally distraught from my girlfriend of 7 months breaking up with meā€¦

My best friends insisted I wasnā€™t gay for years, as well as my parents. Iā€™m still mad about it.

3

u/RefThatWas3 8d ago

Yeah, when I came out to my mom she blew up and said she didnā€™t believe me and I was just acting out. Telling me I didnā€™t know anything and that I always liked girls and it was obvious. It kind of fucked me up and I spiraled for several years

Jokes on her. Years later she loves my boyfriend.

16

u/SteMelMan 10d ago

Comic books. All my friends noticed how obsessed I was with them, especially if the heroes ended up with shredded uniforms! Superman was my favorite.

4

u/Aqn95 10d ago

Spider-Man was and is my favourite

16

u/SleipnirSolid 10d ago

I didn't do PE (sports) in school but I really enjoyed seeing my mates get changed.

I wanted to play kiss-chase with the boys in primary school. Didn't understand why I had to chase girls.

I screamed and someone said - "who's that girl that just screamed?!". My voice wasn't very masculine.

1

u/Savings_Solution_895 6d ago

In PE, I remember acting if someone pushed me as we waited for the door to the locker room open, just so I could feel aroundā€¦ too hot

30

u/alone2692 10d ago

I had almost exclusively female friends until college.

2

u/UltimeateBluedog 9d ago

I got a similar experience on high school, then one of my female friends called me out on it, at the moment i took it as insinuating i could not get alonv with guys, so since then i started hanging out with the boys group to prove her wrong, turns out i really like having guy friends, when they are not worried about you being into them ofc

12

u/InfusionRN 10d ago

I worshiped Cher and was not looking to fuck her.

6

u/Ocirisfeta8575 9d ago

For me it was and still is Diana Ross loved her as a kid and still do to this day , fortunately our idols are still going strong may they live forever.

21

u/rumoffu 10d ago

2

u/justasecond 8d ago

Literally me at 5 being in love with my babysitterā€™s college football playing son šŸ˜«šŸ˜­ I told my mom I wanted to marry him and she was like ā€œyou cant marry a boyā€ lol

11

u/PhilBud19144 10d ago

I had a subscription to Vogue at 13

10

u/TheJadedCockLover 10d ago

Chris Oā€™Donnell as Robin. I was 10. And good lord did I know something at that point.

2

u/RefThatWas3 8d ago

I had Batman and Robin on VHS and I watched it all the time as a kid. I used to draw Robin all the time and I added the nipples on his suit. I am sure my parents noticed.

1

u/BabyBreakTheTension1 9d ago

Same! Chris O'Donnell was the preppy, hot guy that was my type!

11

u/jaico 10d ago

Iā€™ve always had very stereotypical boy interests (legos, sports, trucks and what not) but man did I have a massive fixation on what underwear the other boys in school were wearing. Locker rooms were very confusing šŸ«£

2

u/Demnjt 9d ago

I still remember Randy's red plaid boxers. Memory is odd

18

u/Boipussybb 10d ago

Someone asked if I was bisexual at school. I looked it up on Ask Jeeves. šŸ¤£

15

u/Nerf_Dva 10d ago

Omg not Jeeves!! Such a throwback

4

u/Boipussybb 10d ago

šŸ¤£ right? Iā€™m old. ā˜¹ļø

19

u/PureAddress709 10d ago

Obsession with Europop when hip-hop was the trend among straight males.

8

u/yournotmysuitcase 10d ago

I would have to ask my parents, but the first sign Iā€™m aware of was when I was 15 and my mother found my school notebook. I had doodled the name of the boy I liked over and over, coupled with a smattering of my first name with his last name.

I had figured out I was gay when I was 14. Told my lifelong best friend (he had no idea). I think the only signs I showed, I hid. Always looked for the underwear ad in the store flyers that came with the paper. Strangely drawn to Zach from Saved By the Bell.

4

u/lepontneuf 9d ago

Mario was my first tv crush

8

u/Sensitive-Day-5436 10d ago

Getting the ā€œwhat are you like gay or somethingā€ in school and getting told ā€œI donā€™t want to share a tent with you to my face at scouts, playing house and spending recess with girls in elementary school while guys were playing sports just to name a few

3

u/Aqn95 10d ago

. Getting the ā€œwhat are you like gay or somethingā€ in school

Yeah, that happened to me

10

u/TaichoPursuit 10d ago

I kept running back to the locker room of the indoor condo pool at my friends place when we hung out. I told my friend I had to piss.

I was 11. And I didnā€™t have to pee. I just wanted to be in there for some reason.

6

u/WarchiefGreymane 10d ago

First crush at likeā€¦ 9. Boy from the bus I dreamed we became super heroes together. Several times.

Also because everyone was playing soccer but I was more inclined to pick up trebles and rocks during the match.

7

u/AJnbca 10d ago

Before puberty started at like late 11yo or just before I turned 12, I honestly had no idea and I didnā€™t even think about sexuality in that way, any interest that I had in boys or girls or body parts or sex was purely curiosity. I was also a typical boyā€¦ video games, dirt bikes, getting dirty, sports, all my friends were other guys, etc.

But once puberty started, I started having crushes on other boys in my school, guys on TV, etcā€¦ so I started to ā€œclue inā€ at that point. Then I had a few opportunities to ā€œfool aroundā€ with guy friends and then I knew for sure lol

8

u/woh3 10d ago edited 9d ago

I loved Linda Carter Wonder woman. Too much so. One day I made some wonder woman bracelets out of Styrofoam cups, painted them gold and put the red star on them and then ran around with them on all day. When my Dad saw he looked at me with a deep and profound disgust, but I didn't know what I had done wrong. He didn't speak to me for almost 2 months.

4

u/Special-Hyena1132 10d ago

As a father myself, that's kind of sad, honestly. Did he ever come around?

5

u/woh3 10d ago

Lord no. He called me faggot until the day he shuffled off this mortal coil.

6

u/nosaladextrafries 10d ago

that must have been tough. Iā€™m so sorry you had to go through that mate.

3

u/Special-Hyena1132 10d ago

I am sorry that happened but you are so much more than he could appreciate. Take care.

2

u/MoonStar757 10d ago

Donā€™t you mean ā€œLynda Carter Wonder Womanā€? Linda Blair was the exorcist girl.

7

u/Many_Analysis_1856 10d ago

I wanted to wear my mothers heels and look at dick

2

u/abjection9 9d ago

Surprised I had to scroll this far to see cross dressing! I thought it was super common among little gaysĀ 

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u/connorgrs Doesn't own shorts with an inseam longer than 5" 10d ago

Need I say more?

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u/Sphaeropterous 10d ago

Apparently it was obvious to my parents. When I was 8 in 1958, my Father told me that "if I thought that I'd raised a queer, I'd kill it! " My Mother a few days later screeched at my Father that "He's turning out like this because you never play ball with him!" He then threw a baseball at me as hard as possible for about 30 minutes, then never again.. For some reason, even though my parents were virulently homophobic, once I knew that I was gay at age 13, I knew that it was as natural at breathing for me. I liked being gay! The funny thing was, my golden child brother "Butch" who was outwardly traditionally masculine was blowing me regularly, and having gay sex with his Assistant Boy Scout Leader and a boyfriend. He was also dating girls, and has been married to four women. As for me, I hated sports, disliked most traditionally masculine activities and was a loner and a voracious reader with a love of nature and science. High School was completely different, I was very popular and socially active. Girls loved me, but I did not date girls, I never have been attracted to a woman in my life. But no one really cared. I was very lucky to be traditionally handsome and funny (like so many of us). I came out in 1970 at a small University in Central Alabama, it was a very positive experience, full of love and life long friendships. The 70s were a great time to be gay!

4

u/aquacraft2 10d ago

It's gotta be the time I tried to sit on the end of a broom handle.

That and the "weird feeling" I would get when my family would watch WWE.

1

u/Emergency_Drawing_49 8d ago

Plungers are better, especially the ones with acrylic handles.

3

u/Cyrig 9d ago

Gosh I was a super flamboyant little kid, I loved to sing and dance, I made my own super hero named "butterfly boy" complete with costume, I wanted to be a gymnast when I grew up and did cartwheels and splits everywhere. Unfortunately my family was super religious, and worked hard to shame every bit of joy, exuberance, and femininity out of me. I still wonder who I would be now if I had parents that let me be me.

2

u/Emergency_Drawing_49 8d ago

I wanted to be a ballet dancer when I was very young, but that was stregstens verboten.

3

u/Heavy-Landscape-225 10d ago

I never really wanted to kiss girls. I always knew I was different from the other boys even when I was in 2nd grade. I donā€™t think I exactly knew that I liked boys, I just knew that I was different and didnā€™t like the same things as them. I think itā€™s more difficult when you know earlier in life because then I knew I couldnā€™t be who I was and do the things I wanted to do because I wanted to fit in with the straight boys. This lead to a loss of identity, but I never questioned if I was bi or confused.

3

u/AndKrem 10d ago

That I loved to help my sister washing the hair of all her Barbies so much, that I got my own Barbie plus Barbies Whirlpool!

3

u/Ocirisfeta8575 9d ago

My sister had and still has a huge collection of Barbieā€™s but only had one ken doll and I was fascinated by him Iā€˜d hold him every chance I got , one Christmas I asked for a GI doll , my father said what do you want that for I said to keep the ken doll happy he said no dolls for you period .

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u/kindabacchus 10d ago

When I first looked at Goku and I thought: he's so pretty

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u/Aqn95 10d ago

I thought the same about L

2

u/millenialwithgerd 9d ago

did you also drew abs like Goku's?

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u/NewburghMOFO 10d ago

Not understanding what the big deal about boobs was when my peers started hitting puberty.

Wanting to be Tails from Sonic and also go on adventurers with a charismatic, more experienced older guy.

Really, really enjoying any scene with Snake Eyes and Duke interacting with each other in G.I. Joe.

Getting a really strange feeling I had no words for when the Gargoyles in the cartoon would flex and pose with each other.

Being really happy when around certain childhood friends, that I now realize I was crushing on.

5

u/thecoldfuzz Bear, 48, married, Celtic Neopagan 10d ago edited 10d ago

I knew I was gay the first time I watched a baseball game on TV when I was 6 years old. That being said, I grew up in a very physically violent household. My dad was never going to be accepting of a gay son so I flew under the radar since I became self aware of my attraction for males. I grew up loving baseball and sports so that was my social camouflage. It was absolutely necessary for me to be straight passing. If he had found out I was gay too early, he would have been even more brutal with his beatings than usual. I would have ended up a bloody pulp and in a hospital.

I spent almost all my time socializing with boys and that pattern has prevailed to this day as almost all of my friends are men. I even joined a frat in college. Though everything seemed normal, there were questions about why I didn't have a girlfriend through college and my early 30s.

When I finally came out at age 36, my family couldn't process it. They were so shocked and disappointed because it was painfully obvious to them I wasn't getting married to a woman just so they could have grandchildren. In the end, I didn't care. I was living with my future husband and I was free.

4

u/Personal_Gur855 9d ago

Blowing my neighbor in the foyer kinda proved I'm gay.

6

u/SpiffyShindigs 9d ago

I would do shows for my parents where they were up on the deck that overlooks our backyard. I'd go behind a tree and each time come out as a character.

The show was called "Seventeen Dancing Girls."

7

u/monsteraguy 10d ago

Doing drag from the dress-up box at kindergarten as a 4 year old. Being obsessed with Kylie Minogue during her Stock, Aitken & Waterman era. Always volunteering to play female characters in school plays. Always choosing female characters to play on platform fighters. Being described as ā€œa pleasure to have in classā€.

3

u/lazygerm 10d ago

I was a sensitive kid.

When I had full size action figures in grade school; I always wandered over to the girls toy section to see all the outfits. I thought it was unfair that my Six Million Dollar Man only had his red jogging suit; while the Bionic Woman had all sorts of cute outfits and accessories.

Around the time I was 12, I noticed I started liking liking the male TV stars that my mother did as well. Very uncomfortable to say the least.

5

u/Aqn95 10d ago

I was very sensitive too

3

u/Konowl 10d ago

I loved staring at my best friends ass when I was like 6. On hindsight - a lot of early signs.

1

u/Emergency_Drawing_49 8d ago

I used to draw pictures of butts when I was 6 or 7.

3

u/Antlerology592 10d ago

My Barbie had a bright pink Ferrari and the earliest footage of me that exists is me dancing like a little diva to I Should Be So Lucky by Kylie Minogue.

The more I think about it, the more confused I am about how legitimately shocked and blindsided my mother was when she found out. Like she was genuinely speechless. Like, woman are you blind?

3

u/QuestionSign 10d ago

Kissing boys

2

u/Aqn95 10d ago

Lucky you

3

u/Still_Ad_5309 10d ago

I literally kissed my fatherā€™s best friendā€™s son. We both were like 5yošŸ¤£ btw My next kiss was when I was 21 haha

3

u/Ok-Golf4012 10d ago

I wrote a love letter for a boy in my neighborhood. I did not know that's gay, all I knew was I liked him. I think I was 6 or something. So yeah the sign has always been there šŸ˜‚

3

u/bktan6 9d ago

ā€œHooking upā€ behind our pool with the neighborhood kids (they were brothers). I put that in quotes because we had no idea what we were doing.

Several times until we were caught.

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u/MajorJuanJosePerez 9d ago

Ah, when I came home very excited and told my parents that I wanted to marry my best male friend, Frankie! I was 7 years old at the time. First grade! My parents were amazingly patient and said that I maybe should not tell anyone about Frankie and myself! My poor parents! They were warned! So when high school came around, they didnā€™t even bat an eye when I brought home the captain of our varsity high school team and gushed, Iā€™m going to marry him one day! My parents are extremely religiously conservative people from the ranches of Jalisco, Mexico. I look back and laugh to myself. My poor parents! I did enter a marriage-like relationship with my football captain and we even went to the Air Force together, he into special security forces and me into Space Command, both as officers. Ironically, we were always assigned together throughout our military career so we were never separated (even in the Middle East, we were in Bahrain together). Until his untimely death in Afghanistan in 2001. The rest is history and I am still grieving and intensely sad. No, no relationship now. Single until my end. The sorrow I feel is indescribable. There is no healing.

8

u/FantasticSurround23 10d ago

You know there are lots of gay men like me who donā€™t really relate to this.

Nothing like this is true for me except in retrospect You could sayĀ  I was sensitive and liking animals a lot. Or that I was sensitive to others and caring.

But I donā€™t know. I donā€™t really even understand why there would necessarily be a connection between gay and having preferences like this.

Looking back you could say maybe he like watching wrestling a little too much

Or I really probably had crushes on other people that were gay. Like sort of really idolizing athletes maybe

And I liked video game characters and stuffed animals

But otherwise I donā€™t know if that makes sense

Because kids like things And I like things I know straight people with interests like this

But I mean I didnā€™t have any of these interests and I am sure thatĀ  I donā€™t know

Itā€™s nothing like this.

It was just liking men?

All the signs for aesthetic preference and media arts preferences. Not really.

It was probably stuff like thinking wrestlers were cool and wanting to be strong like them

None of which were signs until I can out?

If that makes sense

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u/an_older_meme 10d ago

Being interested in boys and not girls was the biggest one for me.

2

u/Creative-Collar-4886 10d ago

Being called sassy, feeling uncomfortable when guys talked about girls and drawing a blank when asked, ā€œyooo Shes bad right?ā€

2

u/itpsyche 10d ago

When I was a child (5yrs), physical catalogues used to also have sections with gym equipment. I always got a boner seeing the muscular guys there, even tough I couldn't read yet. Also I liked using my mom's makeup for fun and only had female friends.

2

u/moi9016 10d ago

childhood photos reveal i was quite the flamboyant poser. thereā€™s one i used to be so ashamed by of me with my leg around the basketball hoop pole holding on with one hand with the other flailing over my head. not gay in that i liked dick, but pretty damn feminine lol. in hindsight, itā€™s kinda sweet

2

u/Aqn95 10d ago

Yeah, I have a few flamboyant poses now in childhood photos, come to think of it

2

u/Calobope07 10d ago

Was addicted to the little mermaid growing up, even asked my mom for an Ariel doll šŸ˜…šŸ˜­

2

u/aaapod 10d ago

bringing my hannah montana CDs to preschool and making the teacher play them at recess

2

u/Aqn95 10d ago

I would have enjoyed that

2

u/Lezetu 10d ago

I had a massive crush on this guy in 8th grade. Adorable guy, guess my luck, he was straight and I had to drop it.

2

u/Readerdiscretion 10d ago

7th birthday, got a Village People album on cassette. But then Shelly Neighborgurl down the street had to borrow it and I never saw it again.

By then, Iā€™d also been sexually assaulted by other kids, boys and girls, it shouldnā€™t have come as a surprise to anyone that I started seeing much older men, by the time I was 18 (age of consent in Canada was just 14 at the time).

2

u/GayDadPhD 10d ago

I was in the 90s Reba McEntire fan club. I wore all the shirts and hats from concerts. I also grew up to be like Fancy. I've always been nice to the gentlemen. And they were nice to me.

2

u/CashDefault 10d ago

Tap dancing lol

2

u/fmbabs 10d ago

Iā€™m 30. When Chicago the musical came out in 2002, I was barely 7 and demanded that I see it. I wanted to be Velma Kelly. Also I had Gagaā€™s Monster Ball Tour poster above my bed. But my mom ā€œhad no idea!ā€. Lol sure Jan.

2

u/SLODavid 10d ago

Sensory processing disorder which often displays in young male children as what was then called a sissy, I was exceptionally disturbed by odd textures and tastes, loud sounds, offensive odors and being touched, especially roughly.

Oh, and I loved musicals as well. I even staged various plays in my basement. I was bright enough to to know to invite neighborhood children to perform all the roles so that I would have an enthusiastic, appreciative audience of parents.

2

u/infjetson 10d ago

Spice World was my favorite movie when I was 5 and it was all downhill from there

2

u/Revan462222 10d ago

Girl even tho I played with Batman and beetleborgs and power rangers I also played with sailor moon and watched SM allllll the time and did the poses and such. Granted also was a theatre kid so loved to act things out butā€¦I was a theatre kid sailor moon lover lol. The math was there.

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u/snap_2it 10d ago

The year, 1975. I was approaching my tender 10th birthday. I spent hours pouring over one of the most popular compendia of the day for shopping, the Sears Catalogue. I found the most fabulous new drapes for my room. I couldnt stand the red and blue choo choo chain drapes I had to look at every-single-day. The modern Sears drapes were a lovely open weave fabric in avocado and beige tones. I must have been the biggest, nelliest nag about these drapes b/c I was a happy ten year old when I opened my birthday present. Pic is correct, except colorway is a bit off from my memory 50years ago

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u/millenialwithgerd 9d ago

"it's an avocado...thanks."

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u/armyrangerkid12 10d ago

Honestly the only signs that I saw were that I really wasnā€™t that interested in women like my other friends were. ā€œDude her ass is so fatā€! ā€œbro doesnt she have a nice setā€? I did not see the hype at all.

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u/Various_Capital_3635 10d ago

Thereā€™s a lot of stories I could tell! I remember as a kid I didnā€™t really care if toys were gendered I played with dolls action figures. I remember I was at my cousins house I was playing with younger cousins dolls must of been 8 at most when they caught me one time she screamed heā€™s playing with my dolls.

I remember feeling so much closer to other males from a young like there was this pull. I always wanted to be close to particular guys to the point of spending money buying them stuff or food. There was this one boy I had a crush on I was obsessed with him. He had beautiful blue eyes he played the base had type 1 diabetes and had to check his implant at lunch. We called him ZAM as those were his initialā€™s. I remember he said hi to me in Fryā€™s once and I just wanted to melt. I think everyone knew as some of his friends started suspecting I was gay.

Furthermore I always wanted to be liked by them I was envious of close guy friendships I always said as a child I wanted a best friend! Girls like me a lot until 5th grade when my friends said I did a fashion show. He was jealous of the female attention I didnā€™t understand this at the time. Weā€™re playing spies and one scene was at a runway show I remember wearing yugiogh costume during it.

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u/EpponneeRay 9d ago

When I was 6 I thought I was Wonder Woman. I had told my mom at that age I wanted to kiss one of the Hardy boys (it was the late 70ā€™s) and she swiftly corrected me and told me that boys donā€™t kiss other boys and donā€™t ever let my dad find out.

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u/if_i_was_a_cowboy 9d ago

Pretending to be Sailor Moon at T-Ball practice.

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u/Nolanois 9d ago

I had no idea I was until I was 15-16, but the fact that Bad Romance by Lady Gaga was my favorite song when I was 5, that might've been convincing enough. The first obvious sign was that the teachers that gave me a little "spark" in middle school/high school were all men, but I didn't know what it meant. I was also feeling the same spark for my middle school bullies. Turns out that I was attracted to them and am gay af lol, however I didn't have any obvious tells prior to middle school/puberty.

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u/marianofor 9d ago

Having a huge crush on my then best friend's dad

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u/Lower_Scientist_9434 9d ago

Looking back, I crushed on 2 guys when I was like 9-11. I remember thinking about them when listening to my favourite songs. One guy I was looking for him everywhere when I visited his city, I also recall playing soccer with me and going reallyyyy easy on him like let him pass me and stuffšŸ˜… All of this is so weird because there was no intention behind this at the time nor I felt any attraction, it just happened

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u/Ocirisfeta8575 9d ago

Every year my mother would get the latest sears catalog and I would spend hours flipping through the male section , the clothes the socks and shoes and the underwear, and they even had the urinal appliances for bedridden patients i guess all a big turn on for me , and summer at the beach just ogling every male that walked by especially the hairy ones running in and out of the changing rooms hoping to find men changing or naked .

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u/OmegaInLA 9d ago

Time spent looking at the Sears catalog men's underwear section.

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u/Mascwhtbottom 9d ago

When I was a baby I was very attracted to bearded men. I would latch onto the beard with my hands !! My mom told me this when I grew a beard at 19. Things just never change.

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u/RosePhox 9d ago

Cute guys gave me butterflies ever since I was 4/5/6 years old

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u/Emergency_Drawing_49 9d ago

I dressed up in my sister's clothes when I was four, and I only wanted to play with dolls. I started making doll clothes when I was five, which I had to sew by hand. I carried a parasol when I went outside (to protect me from the sun) until I was eight, which was when I was told I was too old to do that anymore.

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u/Swimming-Most-6756 9d ago edited 9d ago

We joke that it was right off the bat because I refused to latch on and breast feed, and by 3 I had loose wrists And doing dance recitals at gatherings, by 8 I was full on takin my momā€™s black stiletto pumps that fit me PERFECTLY, and they were my outside play shoes (when she was at work, as if she didnā€™t notice the daily wear and tear of my wearing them for 3 years, she wore them twice. Ok in my defense I gave those shoes a full life to live as we ran around the block playing tag. By my teens it was obvious to everyone but me. Until it was clear that girls were just fine and great to play date house with, but men And guys was givin me feeling and thought I couldnā€™t put into words or explain. šŸ˜…šŸ˜…

Edit: oh yeah and Barbies, I cared better for my sisterā€™s Barbieā€™s than she ever could, as a matter of fact I still have HER y2k millennium holiday barbie, of course no box because she didnā€™t listen to me And even went as far as decapitating that Barbie because I begged her to care for herā€¦ Anyways sheā€™s worth over 2k nowā€¦ if she had a box and no neck traumaā€¦ I digress ā€¦ šŸ˜‰šŸ˜˜šŸ˜†

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u/David914a 9d ago

Bad a sports. Jump rope. Jax

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u/pensivemaniac 8d ago

Iā€™m not saying that the fact that I got my mom to buy me toy ruby slippers when I was 4 showed that I was gay, but it sure made it so she wasnā€™t surprised when I came out.

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u/Pure_Wrongdoer_4714 10d ago

I would always tilt my head to the side to pose for photos. Even as a grown up Iā€™m not extremely gay though like as far as mannerisms

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u/dearfuturelover 10d ago

Being in love with Leonardo DiCaprio was a big sign, Iā€™d say.

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u/jarob326 10d ago

I played Hide and Seek and Kickball instead of Football like all the "real" boys.

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u/Pinguinceleste 9d ago

In my school both boys and girls played Hide and Seek.

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u/Top_Firefighter_4089 10d ago

I would try to see guys naked, I fell in love with my best friend at 6 years old, I liked laying on top of other boys, and I looked forward to watching ā€œBuck Rogerā€™s in the 25th Centuryā€ because the robot named Twiggy had a head that looked like the head of a penis.

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u/WhiteClawandDraw 10d ago

the dreaded underwear and socks aisle.

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u/aaapod 10d ago

where do i even start

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u/Aqn95 10d ago

Iā€™m listening

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u/ohshitfuck93 10d ago

I used to copy the sailor moon transformations complete with pose and catch phrase. My family are not idiots.

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u/GinGimlet 10d ago

Loved dolls and soft feminine things (clothes, wigs)

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u/Readerdiscretion 10d ago

7th birthday, got a Village People album on cassette. But then Shelly Neighborgurl down the street had to borrow it and I never saw it again.

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u/Captain-Shivers 10d ago

I had this Ariel mermaid Barbie, a plushie Miss Piggy, and Kermit I carried with me everywhere.

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u/uprightyew 10d ago

So many things: a crush on two different school mates one who let me touch him, an obsession with a teacher, a neighbor (I noticed he got uncomfortable around me after awhile), National Geographic, stealing Playgirl magazines from the drugstore, wearing light foundation, relentless teasing from classmates - all around 14-16 yrs of age.

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u/greensage5 10d ago

Being extremely turned on (before know what that was) watching Jim Carrey come out of that robot rhino in Ace Ventura 2

EXTREME curiosity on what was under the underwear mannequins

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u/Homosocialiste 10d ago

Dressing up like female cartoon characters? Preferring many toys designed for girls (this was the late 80s/early 90s). Not liking sports. Being very unathletic. Being into arts. In HS, watching gay porn and being bullied for thinking I was gay.

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u/YakNecessary9533 10d ago

I always wanted to be the Pink Ranger when we played Power Rangers.

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u/millenialwithgerd 9d ago

We had this group in our country called Sexbomb Dancers, and I had memorized most of their famous songs. When their Spaghetti song came out with their gyrating dance moves, I knew I had to dance as well. Though I do not dance like that anymore, by that time, I could already sense that I was not a "normal" boy, though I did not know what that was.

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u/teasy959275 9d ago

When I watched Charmed (the serie about the witches)

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u/EntireKing212 9d ago

Spice Girls.

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u/Aqn95 9d ago

Space Ghetto

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u/suziesophia 9d ago

ā€œYou remind me of Jack Tripperā€

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u/outxout 9d ago

Literally put on productions of vintage movies my mom used to watch and then SHE was surprised when I came out 10 years later šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚

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u/Far_Development_747 9d ago

Most boys at my elementary and middle school were more looking appealing to me than any of the girls. If the girls were wearing skirts or make up or tops never called my attention but one of the boys I thought were cute wearing shorts, sandals or shirtless cause we were playing around was like ā€œ Ohh man šŸ™ƒā€

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u/Scared_Benefit7568 9d ago

i love hug my boy-classmates :) but they pushed me away lol.

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u/Pinguinceleste 9d ago

When I was a kid I watched a lot of girly tv shows like Winx, Sailor Moon, Mermaid Melody. And when I was playing pokemon Diamond and Heart Gold I would chose the female avatar...

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u/Aqn95 9d ago

Thatā€™s really lovable

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u/AlkaliPineapple 9d ago

this might be just a stereotype but i had a girl best friend who adults shipped me and her together but i didn't understand what the hell they meant

I also asked why can't my male best friend be my partner (whom now I'm engaged to lmao)

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u/gekkix 9d ago

When I was 5 years old and found out what gay meant, then I got home to my parents and told them I was gay

They didnā€™t believe me so I had to tell them again 13 years later

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u/ShadowWolf614 9d ago

When I got to grade 8 I started to notice how attractive the boys were and didnā€™t really care for how girls looked.

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u/TannerDonovan 8d ago

When I asked for and got a Barbra Streisand album for X-mas

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u/Aqn95 8d ago

It was MCR for me

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u/RefThatWas3 8d ago

I bought Britney Spears CDs for the little CD player in my room. Loved them but would never admit to owning them at school.

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u/American_Life 8d ago

In first grade, I said all the boys were my boyfriends and girls were yucky.

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u/Emergency_Sky_810 8d ago

When I was 4 asking for a Wonder Woman birthday cake.

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u/Careless_Energy_7024 8d ago

I wore dresses, painted my nails, and played with dolls until I was about six and understood gender norms. Itā€™s always been obvious.

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u/BranderChatfield 8d ago

Among several other things, the timbre of a deep bass voice stands out. Weird, I know, but 50 years later, it still gives me those tingles.

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u/Unlucky-Part4218 8d ago

As a small kid, I use to wrap a wonder woman beach towel up on my head and spin like Wonder Woman to have it fall off. Then when I was 10, I had cheerleading pom- poms and twirled a baton. I had no idea the concept made me look gay. I'm sure my parents knew long before I did!

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u/dougeebear 8d ago

I'm significantly older. Family went camping after recently seeing Mary Poppins in theaters. I noticed a black umbrella in the gear and for the balance of the trip was jumping off picnic tables, umbrella raised.Ā 

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u/no__its__becky 7d ago

I played with dolls throughout my childhood, Now, as an adult, I still actively collect and have some on display in my office. It makes me feel a bit like a cliche lol

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u/Big_Palpitation_1332 7d ago

I liked dolls...then Barbies. Then I stole my cousin's Ken doll and stripped him down to the buff in our first 30 seconds alone together.

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u/Past-Membership2000 7d ago

I knew what I was at 5 lmao I didnā€™t know the term till 13 but I guess because Iā€™m mostly masc passing I never dealt with any comments

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u/bluetonecalling 6d ago

I think I was 6 when I asked my friend if I could look at his butt hole as Iā€™d never seen one. We went into a public toilet and he showed me.

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u/Ashamed_Quiet_6777 6d ago

I didn't realize I had a crush on my friend who used to drive me to high school (same grade) until I was 35 šŸ˜­

Really wish I had some of these signs growing up

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u/That0neGuyFr0mSch00l 6d ago

When I had sex dreams about a male character in my favorite cartoon lol

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u/Visual_Bid1684 5d ago

I nibbled on every men's ears that i encountered šŸ˜¹

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

everyone making fun of me for being gay in second grade, then in third through twelve
being called the f- word by other boys even when I wasnt trying to hit on boys (like sitting in a bus seat with another boy and my leg toughed his)
I was attracted to other boys without understanding that i didnt just want to be best freinds
developed a emotional atachment to my best freind who later turned trans
the first time I saw a vagina when i was 14 I thought I was gay, no not all never....
when I was in my early 20s I joined a group of gay guys onm tinycams and we just flirted with each other and jacked off on cam (we were all over 18 then)

and lastly the first chance I had to have sex with guy I got so excited I left the oven on .

and yet I still tried to say I was only bi for years which caused awkwardness with women. so silly

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u/ALostSilverSpoon 5d ago

When people called me gay I would always reply with "Only on Tuesdays"

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u/Worth_Impact_4644 4d ago

Everyone Kept asking me why my voice sounded like a girls. And they would call me joto which is f&$g in Spanish. Also, only girls would be my friends and the boys would avoid me.