Chazzy Loves Bluto!

My first gay crush was Bluto!
In the early 60's when I was 7-years old, I watched Popeye cartoons on TV after school.

Popeye's arch nemesis and rival for the attention of Olive Oyl was a bearded, aggressively masculine sailor named Bluto.   

Bluto had huge shoulders and curvaceous pectoral muscles that were visible right through his sailor uniform. He would try to impress Olive and intimidate Popeye by flexing his huge biceps. 

This gave Olive palpitations and would send Popeye into a jealous rage. 

The animators gave Bluto various roles like cowboy, lifeguard, lumberjack, and biker. These all made him a virile counterpoint to the wussy, spaghetti-armed Popeye. 

In one cartoon I remember vividly, he was a circus strongman dressed in a black speedo and yellow tank-top. He made his muscles dance, bent steel bars, and lifted huge barbells as everyone in the crowd watched in awe. 

When little goody-two-shoes Popeye ate his spinach and beat him to a pulp, it was a travesty my young mind couldn't comprehend! I tried to talk with my little friends about how cool Bluto was and how he deserved to win at least once in a while. 

But they were not having any of it. To them, Bluto was 'the bad guy' and that was that. 

I had to pretend that I liked Popeye better so that nobody would suspect that I was 'weird.' 

Chazzy - Connecticut
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Mike Loves Dolph Lundgren!

My first gay crush was Dolph Lundgren as He-Man!!!

I grew up in a very strict Catholic family in the late 1970's. And the word gay or homosexual was never mentioned.

Thus, at the age of 14, I still didn't know what gay was. Or that gay people even existed.

I'd had boy crushes for hotties like Scott Baio and Christopher Atkins, and swooned over them as much as my sister did. But always in secret. Then in 1987, reading a movie magazine, I had my first "serious" gay crush.

I came across the full page ad for "Masters of the Universe" starring Dolph Lundgren. I was absolutely floored by how cute he was with his perfect blond hair and skimpy costume, which revealed his totally hot, buff body. And I just completely melted!

Dolph was standing in front of bright rays of light shining all around him, and to me he seemed like an archangel warrior sent from the heavens! Also, unlike the animated He-Man who wore fuzzy briefs, Dolph wore a sexy leather pouch! If that wasn't enough, across his chest he had thin, snugly-fitting leather straps!

I didn't have a word for it, but I knew right then I was gay! My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt slightly paralyzed, fixated on the picture.

I decided I had to see the movie, never wanted to lose that picture ever, and I couldn't ever let anyone know I had it! So I rationalized that hiding the photo under my mattress would be the best thing to avoid suspicion.

In any case, I can truthfully say it's He-Man's fault that I'm gay! :) And I still think that movie poster picture of Dolph is totally hot!

Mike - Ontario, Canada
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Jim Loves Steve Reeves!

My first gay crush was bodybuilder/actor Steve Reeves

I was 9 when I first saw him in "Hercules Unchained" in 1959.

He was extremely handsome, bearded, sexy, with a muscled physique.

Basically, the total Daddy Package, something I've been drawn to all my life.

The body, the face, the personality:
This hot man was basically a Demigod.



He was a man's man who looked like he could wear you out in the bedroom, but at the same time be devoted and protective of you. And I still love him 52 years later.

Jim - Canton, OH
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Inspired by the "Born This Way Blog" - BornThisWayBlog.com