Douglas Loves Nick Berry!

My first gay crush was British actor Nick Berry!

Sunday evenings were always filled with dread for me at the thought of going to school the next day. That is, until the show "Heartbeat" started airing in 1992.

The show was about his character Nick Rowan, a big city policeman coming to work in rural Yorkshire in the 1960s. 

Many things made Nick attractive to me: his handsome face, tight uniform trousers, and he just seemed to be a nice guy. I remember thinking that if all policemen looked like that, I wouldn't mind being arrested!

Needless to say, I couldn't wait for it to come on.
However, since it was a program that my parents liked,
I feigned displeasure at having to watch it. 

At age 12 I didn't know I was gay, but my stirrings for Nick were one of many clues that led me to my self discovery. But I never told anybody about my gay crush. 

The series also introduced me to music from the 1960s.
And I still love 60s music today. 

I also still love a man in a uniform!

Douglas

Belfast, Northern Ireland

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Laurie Loves Cher!

My first gay crush was the fabulous Cher!

And I was definitely born this way.

That's why there’s no other way to explain that
even before I could understand the days of the week,
I understood that I loved Cher. 

In 1971, I was 4 years old when The Sonny & Cher Show premiered on CBS. Though I may not have been able to read a calendar, I did know enough to ask my mom, 'Mommy, is Cher going to be on TV tonight?' 

Sometimes she’d say yes, more often she said no. 
But when she said YES, I was ecstatic. 

So, was it Cher's long, flowing hair, that she’d toss off her shoulders as she sang? Was it the Bob Mackie outfits? Was it that she was never one to take lip from any man? 

Who knows? I just knew I adored her.

Now it's over 50 years later, and Cher is still with us, as she always will be, and I still love her with all my heart. 

Laurie
Brooklyn, New York

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Click here - "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
Click here - "Born This Way Blog""