General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Did you hate, fear or dislike gay people at one time? [View all]TexasBushwhacker
(20,591 posts)that the milk cartons at lunchtime had "homo" printed on them. I'm 58 and grew up in a pretty progressive home. I would have gotten in more trouble for saying the N-word than the F-word. We went to a Unitarian church, and when I was in 7th grade they had a sex education course. Yup, fact based sex education at church in 1970! They covered homosexuality briefly in a non-judgemental way.
I was in the junior choir and our choir director seemed kind of different from the other men at church. It didn't bother me and at 12, I didn't have much understanding of homosexuality having never been around someone who was out and proud. Many years later, in 1997, my mother and I were watching the evening news. They were talking about the Heavens Gate cult and their leader, Herff Applewhite. We looked at each other and said "Herff Applewhite? OMG, HERFF APPLEWHITE!" Herff had been that choir director that I thought was a little different.
So I was 40 in 1997 and asked my mother if he was gay. She said "OMG, he was flaming!" So that was my earliest memory of a gay person, in a round about way. My uncle's best friend was gay, although closeted for many years.