Did you hate, fear or dislike gay people at one time?

[gratuitous]

46. Some icking out in my mid-teens

But that was pretty normal in my peer group. I don't recall being worried that a gay man would come on to me. It was a weird time to come of age, sexually. The women's liberation movement was moving from walk to run at that time, and many of the girls my age were getting used to the idea of sexual agency. Alan Alda and Phil Donahue, the quintessential sensitive guys, were personal role models. I had my share of incomplete passes, until someone I didn't much care for made an aggressive pass at me. That sort of turned me around, and I got a much fuller understanding of how my clumsy attempts were probably being perceived by the girls and women. In an odd way, it modeled the behavior I might need to turn down a sexual advance in a gentle way, regardless of whether the person making the advance was male or female.