As a tomboy, I spent much of my childhood with my cousin Russ, who’s the same age as me. Russ’s older brother taught us new words like fag and queerbait, and I have a vivid memory of Russ actually calling me gay at age six. I asked him what it meant, and he said, “It means you’re a girl that likes girls.” I took a moment to process that in my little brain and I concluded, “Yeah, you’re right.”
