"Okay," some folks have asked me, "if you knew you were gay when you were six, name some of the people you had childhood crushes on?"
Alrighty, then. Time to visit the vaults. Only one of them was a real, everyday person to me. The others were all actors on tv.
Age 6: My 1st grade schoolbus driver, Frank. I wanted to be alone with him, but I didn't know why.
Age 7: Clint Walker aka "Cheyenne." Hunka-hunka furry, burning love. Again, I wanted to be alone with him... somewhere else.
Age 9: Will Hutchins aka "Sugarfoot." He was dreamy and soft and, well, kind of gay. Not at all like that Bear I was in love with at age 7.
Age 11: JACKPOT. Gardner McKay in "Adventures in Paradise." Man, did I want to be alone with HIM on that 3-masted schooner, somewhere in the South Pacific where nobody would ever find us. Forever.
Age 11: Peter Palmer in the movie musical, "L'il Abner." I sat through it 3 times on one Saturday afternoon. When I left the theater a blizzard had hit us and I had to slog home through 9 inches of snow. He later made a guest appearance on the Tennessee Ernie Ford TV show and I still remember what he sang. How gay am I? He really was a dreamboat.
Age 12: Sigh. Another dreamboat with a deep voice. Tom Tryon as "Texas John Slaughter" (a Disney series, no less!). I had seen him earlier as the monster/alien husband in the Grade-Z epic, "I Married a Monster from Outer Space", but I forgave him for that once I fell in love with him.
In all that time, sorry to report, I never once wanted to be alone with any woman I saw on tv or in real life.
Ergo sum... honey, I'm so gay I poo rainbows.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
5 comments:
There was probably some reason why when I had trading cards in grammar school, I always traded away the men for the women, was fascinated by breasts, and developed the life-long crush on Judy Garland.
How many sledgehammers does it take for God to make a point with you?
Look, it's okay to want to be with Judy Garland, but it's not okay to want to WEAR Judy Garland.
Right?
God has worn out a whole crate full of sledgehammers on me!
I was in love with the older brother on the "Flipper" TV show.
Oooooh, Steve, I can see him now. Luke Halpin, or something like that, right?
Yup, he was cute alright.
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