text: I am gay.  I knew I was gay when I was 4, though I didn't know there was even a label for it.  I was attracted to men.  I went through puberty at 8.  By 12, my sexual orientation was fully functional.  I had a wonderful childhood.  Two loving parents, as perfect a home as you can get in all respects.  I was never molested.  I was never raped.  I was never sexually abused.  I had my first ejaculation at the hand of another boy when I was 12 - he was 12.  We were equals who happened to have very strong feelings for each other.  We were textbook best friends in every other respect.  I dated girls in high school because I enjoyed their company, not because I was romantically attracted to them.  I married at 19 because that's what we are "supposed" to do.  I was married 12 years and we have 2 wonderful kids who are now adults themselves. (19 and 17).  After 12 years, we decided that we both needed the freedom to find our own paths in life and we divorced amicably.  I have been in a healthy, monogamous gay relationship ever since. My kids are well adjusted and love my partner - they call him Dad2.   I have never done drugs, don't drink alcohol, and have never had the desire to smoke. I have never been, or had the desire to, be promiscuous.  My parents were born in the early 1920's.  They are still alive and kicking with sharp minds and moderately good health.  I occasionally go out to gay clubs to dance and socialize. All in all, it's been a very good and rewarding life.  Choice?  Not likely.  At the age of 4 one hardly has enough pieces to comprehend choice, let alone make them.  It was always there - at no point did I have to make a conscious choice whether to be gay or not.  I just am.  Yes, I was married and have kids.  Just because I am gay doesn't mean the plumbing doesn't work, or that I am sterile.  Sex is simply a biological process, nothing more and nothing less.  Love, however, is deeply complicated.