I'm pretty sure the first gay guy I met was a kid in elementary school who hated me (I hated him too). He was pretty stereotypical and we fought over this girl who was our best friend all the time. Anyway I didn't know I was gay yet but I was aware I wasn't very typical male. I ended up yelling at him one day in 5th grade calling him gay. He turned around and punched me in the face. Taught me a lesson.... LOL. The first openly gay I met was a guy in study hall when I was 15. He sat with these girls a table over and always chatted about fashion and going to New York and his boyfriend. I (still) didn't know I was gay yet. I didn't think anything really bad about him (even though I have been raised to hate homosexuality). I just remember observing him and not even really forming any opinions. I tend to make judgments but for some reason I didn't judge him much. I thought "oh he's gay" and wondered momentarily about what his life would be like. That was the extent of my thoughts. I never said hi to him or any of his group as I was shy but it is interesting thinking back on these things... It wasn't too long after that I started vaguely questioning myself about what I wanted.
Out of my eleven aunts and uncles, two of them were gay. We didn't see Randy much, so I probably already knew about gay people when I found out he was. Auntie Silvia has been with her partner Lori since about the time I was born. Lori is (used to be more) masculine, and has a slightly deeper voice. I remember thinking that she was "Uncle" Lori. Like any kid, I compared everyone to my parents, and assumed that they must be a mom and a dad (they have a daughter). ...so I had to be corrected on that, but I hadn't been taught that being gay was different, so I didn't think anything of it. It was just like "Oh. Oops. Sorry auntie." My first manager, when I was 12, was gay. Flamboyantly gay and Italian, a fantastic combination. I didn't meet any queer kids my own age until grade ten. I didn't meet any transpeople until college.
I met a lesbian for the first time in grade 7 or 8, because my best friend has 2 lesbian sisters. It made me feel great, and there were no issues. I met another gay guy for the first time in grade 10 through a weekend retreat, and it made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I'm not even sure why. I even cried over it. I guess it's just because being openly gay is not really a thing where I live. (But I'm changing that )
There was a boy at my school (1 class under myself) that was gay. He apparently thought I was gay (this was way before I was comfy with myself) aaaannndd we went on a school function and we ended up in the same room, and we had to sleep in the same bed. I ended up waking up in the middle of the night with his hands down my pants... I wasn't a happy camper >.< So my first brush with another wasn't the best, and it ofc made me feel worse about myself.
When I was about 7, my friend told me and my other friend about these evil people he called "gays" I was absolutely repulsed and vowed that I would never be one, he was a very descriptive storyteller LOL! The first time I saw one of these people was about 6 years later; Because I went to school in a village where there was a military base (my father wasn't in the military, we just lived there) I added a friend who had moved in year 1 (I don't know what that is in equivalent in the USA, but when I knew this guy I was about 6) and he told me he was gay years later on facebook, I was unsure then and he, jokingly, accused me of being a closet homosexual. So I promptly sent him a massive hate message saying "why the hell would you say that you effin..." I eventually said sorry, but lol, I went in a massive circle!
At least he's the first person I can really remember. Its kind of sad though, because he disowned our family after coming out, while it's usually the other way around. Anyway. His sister, my Aunt Tora, the first time I ever knew she was in a relationship it was with another woman and there was no hiding this one.
