Internet star Antoine Dodson shares how childhood abuse has impacted his sexual identity
I can’t say that I was born gay; truthfully, I’m still trying to figure it out. I do know my first sexual experiences were with men, and not by choice.
When I was 5, my grandmother went into a nursing home. I was sent to live with an older relative in Chicago who we called Mother. She had a seven-bedroom house and was a “mother” figure to many foster children.
There were always about 25 people living there, including men. The kids touched each other. There were rapes and assaults. I was targeted by some of the males who lived there. They’d get high and demand oral sex from me, and eventually things got worse. By 14, I could no longer take the abuse. I ran away and worked as an escort to make a living. At 18, I moved to Alabama and embraced the flamboyant “queen” lifestyle. However, things changed when I became famous.
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