I'd preface my answer by agreeing fully with Raisinboy's answer since, in all honesty, thats exactly how I've always felt...I was never influenced by the fact that I was gay, or by others who were gay or how anyone felt about gay people. I did what I did and carried on no differently than if I wasn't gay. Granted, I grew up during the time where internet, text messaging, xbox, iphones, web cams and chat rooms were probably not even a thought in anyones head. So, exposure to the gay world in my isolated little NJ town was pretty limited. Aside from having sex with a fellow high schooler, I accepted who I was and just went on with my life.
After heading to college in a small backwards, extremely prejudicial town in Georgia, I abrutly left hitchhiking to California (without my parents knowledge) and landed in San Fran which at the time was like one big gay funfest, gayfest and bathhousefest, fagfest...you name it, it was it. And while I was thrust into this whole new exciting world (god knows I had my share of fun being 19 and all on my own) I really didnt prescribe to its influences. I met some great people and realized how cool it was that there was so much diversity amongst us gay people and I came to love everyone for who they were. I also met many cool straight people and I came to love them all for the same reason.
I was extremely lucky to meet someone a year older than me from Nebraska who became my boyfriend and later my partner who I was with for 19 years. In our earlier years we were definitely partiers, being into the gay scene and doing all the fun things a couple could do during that time. But we also maintained a life, especially later in life, where we lived amongst everyone, with no care about our being gay, nor caring about how anyone felt about us being gay. It just was what it was.
Now though, having found myself suddenly single, its been a real strange transition. I never had to think about my "preferences" and the newness of discovering so many fun and tittilatiing possibilities has been a tad overwhelming, yet exciting. Not that I’ve changed much but like in terms of preference, my partner were young when we met and even at the end I always viewed him as being young (plus he always had a youthful look) so I’ve found myself enjoying younger people. I enjoy their company and on a couple occasions sexually but certainly its my preference in porn but I led such a vanilla life sexually I’ve become strangely enamored with many fetish-like things. So, its all been weird but I continue to be who I am…although altered from who I was…I try to be kind, respectful, compassionate and loving…that’s basically how I sum myself up.
Dam, can I babble!!!
