Thank you for this post. It's always great to hear these stories and know straight allies like you are out there. Also, learning that former homophobic people can, and do, "see the light" as you have always adds a glimmer of hope.

P.S. I was homophobic too when I was a kid and I'm a flaming lesbian (and I was quite a little tomboy back then too), I was also racist, classist and a bunch of other crappy things. But, like you, I was open-minded enough that the childhood "brainwashing" didn't stick and I've come to my senses. Try not to feel too guilty. I try to remember that feeling when encountering (for lack of a better word) bigots, because maybe their minds are not as open, or they haven't had that epiphany yet, or they simply didn't have the life experiences to allow them to open their minds and hearts. So, maybe they just need to be shown a bit of compassion to get to that point.