By: Nico

Published: June 30th, 2026

For this Friendcities Interview, I decided not to interview a single person, but as many people as I could! Every night I was out at clubs, bars, or parties, I found gay and queer people and asked them the age old question: “Who or what was your gay awakening?”

There were some mishaps and I had to have a conversation like:

“Excuse me, are you gay?”
“No.”
“Wait, really?”

A few times, but overall, I got 50 very good answers I’m excited to share! Please note that I tried to write the responses as close as possible to the exact wording I was given and any personal interjections are in parentheses. Enjoy!:

Results

Jill, 22, Goth girl from Danny Phantom
Erin, 24, a classmate from Catholic school in 5th grade who was proud to be smarter than her brother and with whom the respondent sat alone at lunch, read at recess, and held hands in line
Andrue, 22, MySpace emo boys
Meghan, 21, Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean
Pat, 24, Chris Pine in Into the Woods (specifically the scene where he opens his shirt, apparently…)
Gib, 22, Dan Howell
Zach, 23, a boy in high school (shoutout Landon, if you're reading this!)
Rayne, 21, Alice Cullen & Hayley Williams
Felix, 24, Matthew Lillard & Jim Morisson
Jett, 23, 1st gen Hellboy (this respondent specified that the actor is actually ugly, but Hellboy as a character is hot)
Angel, 24, Veronica from Heathers
Bianca/Bee, 26, Natalie Portman (when asked if there was a specific role, this respondent said 'any'. True that!)
Shereen, 24, a classmate in 4th grade whom the respondent gave snacks to for two years telling their mother she was their best friend (So sweet!)
Mario, 24, boys in Target at age 4
Unnamed Respondent (Mario's boyfriend), a Lego Batman minifigure that the respondent would hump (Oh!)
Caroline, 23, Santana from Glee
Bailey, 26, Fred from Scooby Doo
Elvis, 29, Ash from Pokémon
Jhasiel, 26, John Cena in WWE
Alyssia, 26, a homegirl that the respondent fucked at age 11 after church (shoutout Church Homegirl, if you're reading this!)
Kasidee, 24, Jessica Rabbit
El, 23, at 17 this respondent was in love with a girl that did not like them back (We've all been there…)
Hanna, 25, this respondent was a lesbian in middle school, then became asexual, followed by straight, and finally landed on bisexual (We're happy you made it where you needed to ^_^)
Sydney, 23, Terra from Teen Titans— the respondent noted that they are still into blondes (It is also of note that, despite not seeming to know each other prior, Hanna and Sydney spent several minutes discussing piercings together: very gay!)
Emil, 22, Sigourney Weaver in Alien, but specifically because the respondent thought she was a boy (Now that's a kicker!)
Alejandro, 25, the guy with dark hair from Road to El Dorado

26.5. This respondent was straight, but did ask if dating a bisexual counts. It doesn't, but shoutout bisexual partners, if you're reading this!

Destiny, 21, this respondent cut their hair in 4th grade and loved women ever since
Juni, 22, classmate in 5th grade who wore colored polos
Malaysia, 22, Zendaya
Myracle, 23, Melina Perez in WWE
Mika, 22, Catherine from Barbie: A Christmas Carol (this may be the most obscure pull in this survey, but after looking it up honestly I get it)
Hannah, 22, Hayley Williams from Paramore, but specifically in the "Playing God" music video where she ties all the men up
Anthony, 30, Mason Gooding in Scream
Maya, 22, Jade West from Victorious
Mo, 22, Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean (that's twice!)
Nile, 28, Kassandra from Assassin's Creed
Lordanna, 24, Lava Girl
Rowan, 24, the busty redhead on the Salt River Tubing billboard going from Apache Junction into Phoenix (incredible answer, no notes)
Abby, 23, Jo Calderone, Lady Gaga's drag king alter-ego
Perla, 23, Michelle Renaud from telenovelas
Lane, 21, Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, but specifically for her passion
Emma, 21, a 3rd grade classmate with brown eyes (shoutout Amethyst, if you're reading this!)
Jess, 22, Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi (yes, when she's in the metal bikini— I asked)
Isaac, 21, Rey Mysterio & Randy Orton in WWE
Julian, 24, Chris Evans in Fantastic Four (the respondent was adamant that he looks much better in it than as Captain America. Agreed!)
Perry, 23, Tigress from Kung Fu Panda
Skyler, 24, a classmate that the respondent played softball with, and wanted to be like (this might be the all-round gayest answer)
Aginess, 25, a classmate who the respondent would see studying in the library and make eyes at back and forth
Maya, 26, The Hex Girls (this was surprisingly their only mention in this list)
Mia, 23, Zipporah from The Prince of Egypt (TO THIS DAY! TO THIS DAY!)

Thank you to everyone who participated and discussed these memories with me! I have to say, I was surprised by how much WWE came up, across genders and orientation, even. But really it makes a lot of sense; sweaty, buff people wrestling would be nuclear tech to a young, gay brain, huh? The amount of childhood schoolyard memories were also very heartwarming! But every one of y’all made it a wonderful experience getting to meet so many cool, hip queers this Pride Month, and I hope y’all enjoy it too! Happy Pride!

-xoxo Nico

Disclaimer: If you were quoted in this list and any part of my write up was incorrect, such as the spelling of your name or if you feel misrepresented, feel free to contact us and we can have it removed or changed!! I tried my best, but clubs are loud!

E-mail us at friendcities@proton.me for any other questions or future bookings!