In this ongoing feature, here are some of the answers…last issue the gals had their say, now it’s the guys! Don’t forget to tell us your stories…we want to keep this feature going and going and going….E-mail campoutreho@aol.com.

How some of the boys remember it:

My "When I knew" was less about one event and more about an evolution of ah-hahs. Through associations with my peers, I began collecting the clues. They became my salvation out of a naïve mindset and religious upbringing, which taught me guilt and shame about who I was. The clues began: sleepovers with a childhood friend, who played undressing games; name-calling by Elementary and Junior High classmates; watching the Wizard of Oz on TV every year; a High School classmate with whom I stayed weekends for studies and "extra-curricular activities;" a Military sergeant in Vietnam who gave me a hand behind sand bags during bombing raids; another military co-worker, during a temporary duty in Germany, who added new dimensions to my "education;" even a fellow church member, my age, who was guardedly responsive, but less "evolved."

I then realized how far I’d come. Although, after a 20-year marriage, I didn’t initiate the divorce, I realize now that it would have been like putting new wine in old wineskins—bursting the seams. When the wine was ready, I began looking for our community in a variety of social settings—bars, support groups, church groups, dances and even in my psychology degree work. That’s why Rehoboth Beach is my Emerald City in the Land of Oz.

David Lasher, Rehoboth Beach

I first knew during the cocktail hour of a wedding reception I was attending during my senior year of college. My date, a woman I had been seeing for more than a year, turned to me and said, "Wow! You must be starving. Every time that waiter walks by with the tray of bacon wrapped scallops, you start to salivate." That’s when it hit me. I don’t even like scallops!

Steve Elkins, Rehoboth Beach

When I was in the first grade, my best friend and I could hardly wait until recess so we could play with the G.I. Joe dolls. But, when did I REALLY know? I was eleven, and a group of boys and I were perusing a friend’s dad’s rather explicit collection of "girlie" magazines. While the other boys looked at the photos and took matters into their own hands, I found myself looking at the other boys and doing likewise.

Allen Jarmon, Rehoboth Beach

Hindsight would have a person questioning, ‘When didn’t I know?’ As I look back on it, the hints were legion—and all the indications above suspicion; I knew. But I could no longer deny it when I found myself cutting a picture of Paul Petersen— "Jeff Stone" on The Donna Reed Show—from my parents TV Guide, folding it five timesand discreetly tucking it into the farthest recesses of my wallet—very safe, right between my library card and the hidden combination of my school locker. You could say it was a first crush for Paul and me—literally and figuratively.

Lee Mills, Rehoboth Beach

Please send us your own stories to campoutreho@aol.com. We’ll run them with or without names. We can’t wait to hear some of your fabulous memories!