About the Author

Growing Up Gay In The 2000’s

Growing up, no one really told me how to grow up; especially not how to grow up gay.

In Texas, you’re taught to love three things: football, females, and freedom. Turns out, you can love two of those things and still end up gay.

For years, I breathed Texas air, walked the halls of a school where LGBTQ+ wasn’t exactly part of the curriculum, and tried to figure out who the hell I was. But it wasn’t until I left home, landed on the West Coast, and looked back that I realized how much of my story needed to be told.

So here I am, telling it.

An unfiltered story filled with hard truths, life lessons, confusing as F* moments**, memories I wish I could bottle up and replay forever, and some I’d rather delete from existence.

This isn’t just about me, though. It’s about us. If you’ve ever felt out of place, struggled with your identity, or wished someone handed you a damn “How to Be Gay 101” manual, welcome to My Gay Universe.

Gay Movies Didn’t Prepare Me for This 🎬

I remember watching Love, Simon for the first time in an early screening with my mom at AMC. I felt seen. Finally, a gay romance on the big screen!

But let me tell you, no one warned me that real-life gay dating wasn’t like the movies.

Where were the PSAs about dating apps, walking red flags, and the culture of ghosting? Where was the guide on how to navigate coming out when your parents have never had a "gay child" before?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Love, Simon and Love, Victor, but I wish someone had given me a heads-up on the messy, complicated, and beautiful reality of it all.

That’s what this blog is for. The real stuff. The good, the bad, and the painfully awkward.

Who Am I?

Hey, I’m Eric—a gay guy who grew up in the heart of Texas and somehow ended up basking in the West Coast sunshine of Los Angeles (I know, shocker).

I describe myself as primarily gay (guys? Love them.) but sometimes, if the moon is full and the planets align just right, I find girls attractive too. Sexual identity is weird, and we’re going to talk about that here.

I created My Gay Universe because when I was growing up, TikTok didn’t exist to clock us faster than our best friends did. There wasn’t an algorithm serving up other people like me. We had to figure it out the old-school way—alone.

So let’s change that.

Subscribe to My Gay Universe to follow my story, hear from other LGBTQ+ voices, and get unfiltered takes on growing up queer, navigating coming out, dating, identity, and the world we live in.

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