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""

Jonathan Loves David Cassidy!

My first gay crush? Duh! David Cassidy!

From the time "The Partridge Family" first aired in 1970, David Cassidy was the preferred boy idol of the girls in my grade school.

Which lands this crush during my tween years. 

Fronting the fictional family band, he sang one of their most popular hits: "I Think I Love You" - 
a full out ode to being fearlessly in love!

But then in the Spring of 1972, Annie Leibovitz's "Splendor in the Grass" portrait of him ran on the cover of Rolling Stone!

And I felt something truly illicit when I acquired a copy of it. 

However, my feelings were hidden away at the time.


But they fueled endless fantasies of David and I rolling around naked in the grass (for starters).

Looking at it today, I would still like to roll around naked in the grass with him!!!

Jonathan - Staten Island, NY

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Click here: "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
Inspired by the "Born This Way Blog" - BornThisWayBlog.com

Ken Loves Sergio Franchi!

My first gay crush was singer Sergio Franchi! 

On Sunday October 14, 1962 I was 11-years old. 

And back then, Sunday night meant only one thing:

Gathering around the TV to watch "The Ed Sullivan Show." 

The number one song on the radio was "The Monster Mash." But when Ed introduced the very exotic and dashing Italian tenor, I sat up and took notice as he stole my heart singing "Core Ngrato." 


"Ungrateful Heart" ... ironic, no? 

He was simply the most handsome man I had ever seen! I decided then and there to save my pennies and travel from rural Massachusetts to Rome, where we would become great friends. And, perhaps more?

Suffice it to say, I was in love! 

Ken - Massachusetts
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Click here: "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
Inspired by the "Born This Way Blog" - BornThisWayBlog.com