My dad has always been a little fruity, literally. Growing up, I always knew my dad was gay, even though he didn't come out and tell me until I was in 5th grade. This fact has caused me to have some, let's say, unique experiences.

When I was in middle school, Dad dated a guy named Brett that was totally awesome. He drove a purple Camero and listened to dance music. He had long hair and pierced nipples. Previous boyfriends liked to go antiquing; Brett liked glow bowling and shopping. He was a teenager's best friend. One night, Brett took me into town in his Camero and we stopped at a gas station. He told me I could turn the music up (La Bouche), and I did. At the gas station, I saw a kid I went to school with and she asked me if Brett was my boyfriend. I just laughed and said, "No, he's my dad's boyfriend!" Needless to say, I was tortured at school after that and we moved soon after.

When I lived in Wisconsin during high school, all of my friends knew that my dad was gay and it was totally awesome. When I moved to Mississippi, though, I figured I'd better keep it under wraps since we were in God's country and all. Even though I thought it was pretty obvious, I don't think any of my friends ever found out that my dad was gay (with the exception of maybe one person I worked with at McDonald's, but he was cool enough not to say anything).

I turned 18 in May of my senior year, and my "birthday" present was that I got to go to the bar with my dad. I'd been in bars before, but never a gay bar. It was quite an experience. I remember some lady coming up to me, assuming I was a lesbian, and hitting on me. The highlight of the night, though, was the drag show. I'd never seen anything more hilarious in my life. A week or two after that night, I convinced dad that he needed to go back to the bar and enter the drag show himself. Together we picked out music for his routine and he "borrowed" my prom dress to wear. I vividly remember him practicing his routine in the living room, and me laughing my ass off.

Despite all of these moments, I was caught off guard by my dad's phone call tonight. He calls me almost every day, and today he said he was going to San Fran to buy a pair of leather chaps. He called me again afterward, and said that he'd bought the chaps and a few "other" things and that I'd get to see them when he gets home next week. I told him that was fine as long as he wore pants under them!!!

Life is never boring.