Sean Loves Leonardo DiCaprio!

My first gay crush was Leonardo DiCaprio.

I was in the 6th grade and really didn't have much of an idea that I was gay. At that point in time, the only minority I associated with was the group of kids that only ever wore sweatpants to school.

I remember the Batman & Robin issue of Disney Adventures magazine had arrived at home, and there was an article on Leo, because "Titanic" was coming out soon. And something changed for me that day.

Among all the pictures of George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell in rubber, I couldn't stop looking at the pictures of DiCaprio. It was verging on obsession.

The week after the magazine had arrived, I stayed home from school one day. I was a good kid, so my parents trusted me to be home alone. Well, let's just say things happened for me that had never happened before. And the Disney Adventures magazine was a little worse for the wear because of it...

Sean - Cincinnati, OH
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Jerome Loves Lee Majors!

Lee Majors was my first gay crush!

While Sebastian Cabot as Mr. French, and Patrick Duffy as "The Man From Atlantis" sparked some interest, the sustaining crush fire happened when I first saw Lee Majors in his bionic, superhuman state. With all that running in slow-mo, his open shirt and chest hair revealed, accompanied by cool sound effects.

I was a bit suppressed by a religious upbringing, and didn't know I was gay until I was 34. But looking back, I know he lit that fire. I bought his lunchbox, and started calling myself Steve "Ostin" on my assignments in 2nd grade. 

I was 7-years old.

Maybe it was innocent, as I was so young. But watching Lee Majors in that role for several years, influenced the kind of man that I would come to admire and love:

Heroic, selfless, strong. And, hairy.

Then, while I was still impressionable, he became "The Fall Guy," the life of a Hollywood stuntman.

And he just got hunkier. 

That hairy chest, devil-may-care attitude, and all rough 'n tumble with a cigar.



The show wasn't that well-written, but I suddenly didn't care about the plot.

I may not have known that I was gay, but I knew that I wanted him to be my best friend. And he's become the model for probably all the other men I've ever been interested in.

Jerome - Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
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Sean Loves Larry Wilcox!

My first gay crush was Larry Wilcox,
as Officer Jon Baker on "CHiPs."

It was the late 70's, and I was around 7-years old when
I first became mesmerized by his feathered blonde hair and snug-fitting uniform pants.

While most people were in love with his partner Ponch (Erik Estrada), I just couldn't get enough of Jon.

In middle school, "CHiPs" was cancelled. But luckily, every afternoon they ran double
re-runs I could not miss!


Watching them while doing my homework, and drooling over Jon, was my daily routine. And I absolutely hated the seasons after Larry Wilcox left the show.

So by the time I was 12, that obsession pretty
much erased any doubt that I was gay.

Sean - Connecticut
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Click here: "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
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Jamie Loves Parker Stevenson!

My first gay crush?

Parker Stevenson!

Shaun Cassidy was the favored Hardy Boy, but Parker was my man.

He was blonde, beautiful, tall, and more masculine than 'Mr. Da Doo Ron Ron.'

And he looked way better in tight jeans than Pamela Sue Martin ever did...

By the time he got to "Baywatch" - and became Kirstie Alley's "Big One" - he was prime beef.

He joins Lee Majors, John Schneider, and Jameson Parker in my all-time, gay crush hall of fame.



Jamie - Whitehall, OH
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Michael Loves Shaun Cassidy!

When I was 7, I discovered my first gay crush:
His name was Shaun Cassidy.

He was a "Tiger Beat" heart throb, who was also a pretty good singer. I listened to all his albums, and dreamily gazed into his eyes on the covers.

And, I wondered what it would be like to kiss him on the lips.

In 1977 in suburban Chicago, I didn't have words to express my feelings.

I didn't know what being gay meant or that there was even a word for it.

But, I did know that Shaun was something special.
He was the only reason I watched "The Hardy Boys" on TV. Well, Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew was also pretty fierce.

This video clip is really pretty hot. Shaun's kinda beefy, and when he's sweaty and showing his armpit? OMG! It's almost porn.


I never met Shaun, and my crush is well over.
Although, his songs do still rotate in my iPod.

Michael - San Francisco, CA
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Ed Loves Kirk Cameron!

My first gay crush was Kirk Cameron on "Growing Pains."

And I guess I'm really ashamed to admit it, considering what a raging homophobe he is today.

I had a few other earlier crushes I can't even remember, but my first serious crush around age 15 was Kirk Cameron. 

Yep... My big crush is now a Bible-carrying, gay-hating douchebag who once spewed that 'Stephen Hawking is an idiot and evolution is a LIE!'

And I mean: how could you, Mike Seaver?

But back then? I would have rather severed a limb than miss an episode of "Growing Pains!" Just the show's title is quite suitable for the way that I was feeling at the time.

Too bad I never had the courage to admit it...
Not then, and not even now, today 25 years later!

Ed - Iron Mountain, Michigan
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Philip Loves David McCallum!

Back in the 1960's, before I even knew what our naughty bits were for, I would find myself unable to stand up in front of my parents, after watching
"The Man From U.N.C.L.E." on TV.

All thanks to David McCallum as the Russian super spy, Illya Kuryakin. As I look back, what is important to me was the awareness I had. Even at that young age, I knew that I liked boys. Er, men.

Illya was in good company in my crush category since then, with actor Peter O'Toole and David Bowie also on the list. Somehow, it always came down to those slender, blond, UK guys for me.

Philip - New York, NY
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Barbara Loves Yvette Mimieux!

I was around 10-years old, and my first gay crush
was 1960's actress Yvette Mimieux.

As the frail, emo girl in "Where The Boys Are," Yvette needed to be rescued. And I was just the one to do it.

Then on TV in 1964, she was Dr. Kildare's one true love.

As a surfer girl with epilepsy, she couldn't give up surfing, even though her condition made it dangerous.



That sealed my obsession with Yvette. I fantasized about saving her from fatal surfing accidents, and making her promise to only go surfing with me.


I had a relationship with another Yvette as an adult. And the theme was pretty much the same.

Barbara - Woodstock, NY
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Tony Loves Sgt. Knox!

My first gay crush was Sgt. Knox.

I was age 7 in 1980, and I was addicted to Japanese Anime.

Growing up outside of Boston, I would watch "Star Blazers" on TV, religiously at 3PM every weekday on the UHF dial.

Remember the UHF dial, people?

The show centered around a crew following a signal from a distant planet. On the way there, they picked up a bunch of Space Marines from the edge of our solar system, to help save the Earth.

The leader of those space marines was a man named Sgt. Knox. And in a moment, my taste in men was formed for the rest of my life.
Knox was loud, brash, and occasionally crude. Built like a Mack truck, he didn't take crap from anyone. The American dub featured a voice actor who sounded like he was from Long Island or New Jersey, which only made him even more compelling.

I suppose the subtextual military homoeroticism might have set off my nascent Gaydar, but I think the scene where we got to see Knox bare-assed also may have been a factor. And I was in love.

Those eyebrows! Those teeth! That huge f*cking gun!
His belt had a lot of pouches, like a handy lesbian.

AND HE HAS KNEE PADS BUILT INTO HIS UNIFORM!

Since my first gay crush was a cartoon character, there wasn't much chance of meeting him in real life. But he secured my attraction to square-jawed bears. They protect you from aliens!!!

Tony - Los Angeles, CA
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