I didn’t realize I was gay until I was 19. I was never in the closet. I just didn't get it.
I dated women and fantasized about men. In my mind, I compartmentalized relationships in a different box than sex. It never occurred to me as a teenager that dating the people you have sex with was an option. Without thought, I always figured I’d date women and that my sexual feelings for men would pass. I wonder what my adolescence would have been like had I been aware that it's okay to love a man.
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 1, 2011.