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"When did you know you were you? In a new book called Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay, gay women and men answer that question with childhood photos and memories that make you think--and smile. Last month, we shared some of their stories in Glamour&amp;#x27;s October 2012 issue, and many of you were moved by their honesty and courage, you shared your own stories of pride. &amp;quot;As a loyal Glamour reader and as a woman who loves women, it&amp;#x27;s really great to see an article...in there celebrating being exactly who you are, no matter your sexual preferences,&amp;quot; one of you wrote. We were so inspired that we couldn&amp;#x27;t stop with just the five stories in the magazine--especially today on National Coming Out Day.To keep the feel-good momentum going--and to celebrate National Coming Out Day today--the book&amp;#x27;s author, Paul Vitagliano, or DJ Paul V. as many of his loyal blog readers know him, shared a few of the unpublished stories from the collection. But first, a few Qs with DJ Paul V. himself! GLAMOUR: Why did you feel Glamour would be an important forum for Born This Way&amp;#x27;s message? PAUL VITAGLIANO: In my opinion, women are the more enlightened and compassionate of the species, so I hope your female readers feel a connection to these stories, and will pass that compassion and empathy on to many others. GLAMOUR: How can allies take action on National Coming Out Day? PAUL VITAGLIANO: There&amp;#x27;s many ways. First, make it known to friends and family that you support the LGBTQ community and 100 percent equality. Second, if you think someone you know might be gay, don&amp;#x27;t be afraid to ask or start a dialogue, especially if you think they need a sympathetic ear. Lastly, if someone shares their coming out with you? Hug them, congratulate them, support them, and celebrate with them! GLAMOUR: What are you hoping women, both gay and allies, take away from what they&amp;#x27;re about to read here? PAUL VITAGLIANO: I hope they take away the simple truth that all sexuality is not a choice. And to better understand that unconditional love, acceptance and nurturing makes all the difference in a gay child&amp;#x27;s self-image and self-worth. And that&amp;#x27;s a really important message for any mothers who read Glamour, as well. Plus, look at how adorable all these kids are! These nine women (and many, many more...) were born this way. Here are their stories: JC, age 17 Sierra Nevada (1979) I discovered my dad&amp;amp;#8217;s army uniforms in storage, and I became fascinated with menswear. At the time, children&amp;amp;#8217;s clothing was fairly unisex, and I was interested (as kids are) in the gendered clothing of adults. How could I not dandy up for a costume event as a turn-of-the-century drag king, when I looked so good in it? I was particularly proud of how I tucked my long hair up in the hat for a nice profile. The handlebar mustache may have been a bit over-the-top. My interests only grew as I was supposed to be differentiating into a woman. I kept getting crushes on dead movie idols like Tyrone Power. My delayed libido couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t comprehend that I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t want to do them, I wanted to be them. What&amp;amp;#8217;s most important about this photo is how happy I am. I look like me. That didn&amp;amp;#8217;t happen again for many years. Now I&amp;amp;#8217;m content with my genderqueer self. I&amp;amp;#8217;m gynosexual: attracted to women, whether I&amp;amp;#8217;m considered a lesbian female or a straight dude. I don&amp;amp;#8217;t have to be either/or&amp;amp;#8212;I can be both. Don&amp;amp;#8217;t be forced into those &amp;amp;#8220;M or F, pick one&amp;amp;#8221; boxes. You&amp;amp;#8217;re fine the way you are. Make the question change! Tootsie, age 5 Rochester, New York (1978) I was way too young to know what gay meant, but I knew I wanted to be a boy. During recess the boys and girls would split up, and I always went with the boys. I even remember a game in which, if you pushed the merry-go-round to the left, it was the girls&amp;amp;#8217; way, and if you pushed it to the right it was the boys&amp;amp;#8217; way. I always teamed up with the boys and pushed it their way. I loved playing sports with boys, things like tackle football, and being on an all-boys ice hockey team. I used to dream of becoming a professional athlete and always saw that vision of myself as a man. I remember around the time this photo was taken, in Kindergarten, I told my mom I wanted to be a boy, and she said I couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t. I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t understand why I was a girl, because I wanted to be a boy so badly. This picture captures me at an age when I still had that dream. Ashley, age 10 Spring, Texas (2000) In this picture, I&amp;amp;#8217;m comfortable and completely unaware that I sometimes look manly. That realization hit me the second I laid eyes on this picture, and my stomach fell. I knew what I saw, and I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t like it. But a cute girl in my class did like it, which made me feel a bit better. My mom did too, which eased my fears even more. My grandmother, however, tossed those positive reinforcements out the window, cocked her head to the side, and said, &amp;amp;#8220;You look like one of those &amp;amp;#8216;what&amp;amp;#8217;s up&amp;amp;#8217; girls.&amp;amp;#8221; &amp;amp;#8220;What!?&amp;amp;#8221; I replied, even though I totally knew. &amp;amp;#8220;Gay,&amp;amp;#8221; she said. My stomach had left the building. I went to my room and stared off in silence, with that wrenching feeling like she insulted my entire being. I was never ashamed of being gay on the inside, but I was afraid that it had the power to show on the outside. I was aware that it was taboo and I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t want to be taboo in anyone&amp;amp;#8217;s eyes. Every picture of me from age ten through high school was an awkward experience. &amp;amp;#8220;How should I sit? Oh, God, did I do that smirk? Is my Adam&amp;amp;#8217;s apple the only thing you can see?&amp;amp;#8221; But looking back on things now, I would tell today&amp;amp;#8217;s youth not to disconnect from any of these gay experiences, but to embrace them all. And just smile for your picture. Anna, age 6 Fort Worth, Texas (1989) I look back at this picture and wonder how it&amp;amp;#8217;s possible that anyone was surprised I am queer. My mother says that I wore this outfit every day for weeks: underneath my normal clothes, to bed, in public, even underneath other superhero suits. She asked me why I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t want a Supergirl suit instead of a Superman suit, and I told her that no one could fight crime in a skirt. Every year for Halloween it was the same process: I&amp;amp;#8217;d pick some male I wanted to be, like Indiana Jones, a Dallas Cowboys football player, or a Ninja Turtle. My mother eventually stopped questioning my choices and told me that I could be anyone I wanted for Halloween. I am grateful that she didn&amp;amp;#8217;t force me to be a princess, a fairy, or, God forbid, a bride. She appreciated that my Barbie dolls were only good for dating my Ninja Turtles, that I was never going to wear a dress, and that my cowboy boots went with every outfit. She loved and accepted me for the daughter I was, and she still accepts me this way today. This is one of the only girly pictures I have of myself. It was Halloween. I was always a friendly kid, and there were a lot of girls at daycare, so I&amp;amp;#8217;d volunteer to take the role of Ken and play house as the dad. I loved roughhousing and playing in the dirt with the boys. But I also idolized the princesses in Disney movies. I hated when my sisters dressed me up, which they did often. I just felt more like a boy, and I always have. I&amp;amp;#8217;m twenty-one now, and I&amp;amp;#8217;m still not out to my family. It&amp;amp;#8217;s a work in progress. I know they&amp;amp;#8217;ll be accepting, but I have that general coming-out fear that&amp;amp;#8217;s difficult to overcome. I&amp;amp;#8217;m planning on coming out before my twenty-second birthday. I&amp;amp;#8217;m happy being me. I wouldn&amp;amp;#8217;t change it for the world! Jenn, age 8 Saigon, Vietnam (2002) When I was young, I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t know what gay or lesbian meant. But I definitely knew that I hated dresses and wearing makeup, and dolls scared me. I played with all the boys and I loved dressing in boys&amp;amp;#8217; clothes. In second grade I learned the words gay and lesbian. I promised myself I would never be gay and would never let anyone label me as something that seemed so repulsive in the world&amp;amp;#8217;s eyes. I was convinced that liking anyone but a person of the opposite sex was a sin. In middle school, I grew out my hair, dressed a little more feminine, and started hanging out with girls. I tucked myself away and I lost the real me. But I soon realized that I had to be truthful to myself and admit it: I am a lesbian! And I became very proud of who I am. I told myself that if people couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t accept me as I am, they didn&amp;amp;#8217;t deserve a place in my life. So I slowly started to come out to a few close friends and family members. Now it&amp;amp;#8217;s my last year of high school, and I am an advocate for diversity at school. I am still in the process of coming out, mainly to my parents. I know now that I have always been gay, and there is no way for me to change that. I am proud to finally be true to myself. Kari, age 8 Franklin, Wisconsin (1989) I hear people say it all the time: &amp;amp;#8220;There&amp;amp;#8217;s no such thing as being born gay. It&amp;amp;#8217;s all in our environment and can be controlled and suppressed.&amp;amp;#8221; But I&amp;amp;#8217;ve known I was gay since I was five. I loved rough-and-tumble play, getting dirty, catching various snakes and bugs, and bringing them home to show my mom. I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t know what gay was then, though, and I convinced myself that I was supposed to be a boy because only boys were allowed to like girls. It took years for me to learn what a homosexual was. And when I did I was terrified that I was going to have a long and horrible life. My parents sometimes made negative comments about gay people; however, when the time came for me to tell them, they were nothing but supportive. My friends are all so pro-gay and loving, it feels great to have so much support and acceptance. I can count on them to always have my back with any gay rights issues we face today. I can be fully out and proud, with no worries of what others think of me. Live life to your own expectations and not anybody else&amp;amp;#8217;s. Cathy, age 4 Burlington, Ontario, Canada (1967) I initially thought I was pretending to be a pilot for this photo, but my mum thought I was pretending to be a racecar driver. Then it dawned on me: I wanted to be Speed Racer. I loved action and adventure stories. Boys always had way more fun, both on television and in real life. When I played dress-up with siblings or friends, I&amp;amp;#8217;d often play a boy. And I had a blast. This photograph reminds me of the joy, imagination, and fearlessness at the core of my being. Moments like this are often forgotten or set aside in the workaday grown-up world. I endeavor to not forget them. I strive to be my whole self. Be fearless, and be yourself. Sandy, age 10 Etiwanda, California (1979) My parents allowed me to participate in team sports, which was rare for girls during the 1970s. The organization I played for was called Miss Softball America and they wouldn&amp;amp;#8217;t allow girls to wear sliding pants. So we had to wear these mini skirt/shorts combinations. I started getting crushes on the girls I played softball with when I was around eight years old. Of course, I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t think of them as crushes. I just thought that everyone had those intense feelings toward their friends. My family was ultraconservative and religious, so I don&amp;amp;#8217;t even remember hearing the word lesbian until I got older. I had some boyfriends growing up, but I think those boys only liked me because I could play ball with them. During high school my female friends were all crazy about boys while I was busy writing poetry for girls I liked. Yet I still didn&amp;amp;#8217;t think of myself as a lesbian. It wasn&amp;amp;#8217;t until I moved out on my own that I discovered my sexuality. The first time I kissed a woman, I finally understood why I had never felt passionate being with a man. It was a completely different experience and it felt totally normal. My childhood crushes on girls finally made sense! That was many years ago, and I have never felt ashamed or wrong. And I have to laugh when I hear people say that homosexuality is a learned behavior. I was totally and completely exposed to nothing but heterosexuality as a kid, and I still turned out gay. Today, I still love playing softball. I&amp;amp;#8217;m loving my life as an out and proud lesbian. Pick up Born This Way now, and download the October digital issue of Glamour to see the stories from the mag! How are you supporting National Coming Out Day? P.S. If gay rights are important to you, they&amp;#x27;ll affect your vote. Here are why women are supporting Barack Obama and why they&amp;#x27;re supporting Mitt Romney; find the candidate for you. Photos: Courtesy of Quirk Books"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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