I came out around 25 publicly.

It really bothers me when I see people doing my mother in drag. I mean, just imagine if you saw people doing that with your mother.

I've been embraced by a new community. That's what happens when you're finally honest about who you are; you find others like you.

Around 2001, I started analyzing lesbians. I started to realize that even really butch-acting or -dressing women still had a strong female identity that I never had.

Deep down, my mom had long suspected I was gay... Much of her anger and hurt came from her sense of betrayal that she was the last to be told.

So when I was about 13 or 14, I realized I was attracted to women and then made the assumption that I was a lesbian, and didn't realize that that wasn't the case. It was the fact that I was a man and a heterosexual man. The issue wasn't my sexual orientation, but rather my gender identity.

I came out around 25 publicly.