Who was your gay awakening?

[moreofthat]

A few friends and I were having this conversation last week, and it was a lot of fun to reminisce: 

Which male-presenting public figure was the first to make you think you might like boys? These friends of mine happen to be in different age brackets, so the names were all over the place, which was most of the fun. We all pulled up pics on our phones to gush and cringe. Feel free to post pics with your reply! (no pics of anyone under 18 at the time, though I definitely had some teen stars when I was just a wee one that made me tingly in my fruit of the looms). 

A few of mine:

Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Jensen Ackles (when he was on Days of Our Lives, my mother's favorite soap opera), and Dean Cain (as Superman in Lois and Clark - yes, I know he's an asshole now)

 

 

[56harrisond]

[Rod Hagen]

Makes me sound much older than I am, but Roddy McDowall.  When I was kid Mom would call into the house, "Roddy's on TV!" and I'd come running (back in the day when even a large farm house had only one television).  She knew I loved him, she just didn't know why.  As the gorilla, no.

Age-appropriate crush was Ricky Schroeder.  Silver Spoons was an awful show and I watched it over and over.  As a young adult viewer I saw him get fucked, ok, raped actually :-( in a jail cell in I think "Terror on Highway 91", or some other movie around that time, I was...I don't know, weirdly affected.  I don't think I was out to myself yet, he's a bit older than I am.  

Looking him up now I see his IMDB List is MUCH longer than I knew, I never watched NYPD blue.  I should have.  I still find him hot.  And right now gogling him I see that  his views on Trans Rights and Vaccines don't seem to align with the crowd. I think anti-vaxxers are stupid.  And I have no trouble being attracted to and friendly with stupid men.  YUM.  Views shouldn't keep us from getting along.  An opinion is nothing more than that, an opinion.  A thought.  A feeling.  And my thoughts and feelings for Ricky are THANK YOU.  Unless he's really really really a monster (haven't googled him that much) than fuck him.  Anyway, those were two of my first gay awakenings, or at least gay stirrings I'm sure there were others.  Thanks for this thread, fun to think about.

p.s. Damn, I just read a bit more.  There's dumb, which is ok.  And there's mean, which is often ok if it's funny, but not as a guiding principal.  So bye bye beautiful man, thank you for the memories.  

 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Rod Hagen

[MscleLovr]

29 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

Makes me sound much older than I am, but Roddy McDowall.

Well, @Rod Hagen! Your instinctive ’gaydar’ must have been sophisticated at a VERY young age.

I recall reading a couple of Hollywood memoirs which covered those years. IIRC it was Elizabeth Taylor who was a close friend of Roddy, and she confirmed the rumours that he was gay and possessed an exceptionally large dick.

Edited 17 hours ago by MscleLovr

[Becket]

Chad Everett on Medical Center and David Soul on Starsky and Hutch

[maninsoma]

I know I had a crush on Kent McCord on Adam 12 as a pre-teen, but I couldn't articulate why I was so drawn to him.

The first "real" TV awakening was with Christopher Knight, who played Peter on The Brady Bunch.  There was no confusion what was going on because I had a wet dream about him).  Mike Lookinland as Bobby was closer to my age but "Peter" is the one who caught my eye.

[wsc]

I think I've written of this here once before years ago, so I'll give an abbreviated version. In sophomore year of high school, I was in an art class when Gary came into the room. Gary was in my same class and was working on building sets for an upcoming school play production. The director and drama coach was also the art teacher, and Gary came to the art room with some questions about the sets. It was a Catholic high school and the boys' dress code was dress slacks with a collared shirt. But when Gary came through the door, he looked different. Then I realized he wasn't wearing his collared shirt. He was just wearing his T-shirt, which to my eyes seemed a size or two too small given the way it stretched across his very impressive chest. You could even see the peaks of his nipples trying to burst through. He was very handsome and well-built overall and had a golden tan, but seeing him like that was a new experience and one I'd never had over another boy and certainly not over a - what do you call them? - gurl. Gary and I became casual friends and moved in the same circles occasionally. Nothing ever happened (except in my imagination) and I have been looking for my Gary in every handsome man I've ever met. Thank you, Gary, and Woof!

[MaybeMaybeNot]

Austin Peck in Days of Our Lives. Never really watched the show, just jumped back and forth, hoping to see him shirtless.  

[Rod Hagen]

1 hour ago, wsc said:

Gary in every handsome man I've ever met. Thank you, Gary, and Woof!

And what is Gary doing these days?

[wsc]

38 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

And what is Gary doing these days?

Don't know. I'd heard he got a girl pregnant and they later got married but have no information beyond that. Possibility one or both are deceased by now. As I recall Carlolyn (also a classmate) was somewhat plain, so she did well in the looks department by marrying Gary. He, on the other hand, could have done better. Ahem, hint, hint, although I wouldn't have been able to give him children. But for god's sake, Gary, I would have tried!

Edited 8 hours ago by wsc
Spelling correction

[+ nycman]

I’ve said this before, but I have a distinct recollection of licking the TV in the family room in front of everyone, right over the crotch of a contestant in the Mr. Olympia contest in the early 1970’s. In my memories, it was Arnold Schwarzenegger, but given my later taste in men, I think Lou Ferrigno is the more likely candidate. 

My poor parents!

[MscleLovr]

5 hours ago, nycman said:

I have a distinct recollection of licking the TV in the family room in front of everyone

Was that the networks’ short-lived experiment with Taste-O-Rama television broadcasting? 😜

[MscleLovr]

My first gay crush was Ben Murphy.

He was the handsome actor who played Kid Curry in the TV series ‘Alias Smith & Jones’.
I recall being thrilled when I first saw him in a scene where he’s bathing in a hip-bath.
Although there were bubbles and foam strategically placed, he was bare-chested and his pectoral muscles gleamed. 

As I’d not seen a handsome man’s muscled body before, that image stayed with me, and I knew it was True Love.

(I believe he’s still alive at age 84)

Edited 1 hour ago by MscleLovr

[+ PhileasFogg]