I didn't think about this in my first comment to you, but the reason I realized I was gay when I was 12, or at least the reason I knew the word for it, stems from a different era of Florida anti-gay politics — The Anita Bryant 'Save the Children' era. Ironically, if it weren't for her national campaigning against gay rights, framed as a protection of children, I never would have heard the word, and it probably would have been a long time before I connected my crush on a boy to a categorical sexual identity.

So I guess Anita kind of got the opposite of what she wanted in that case.

I suspect similar things are happening in Florida today for some young people. Of course, the other side of the coin is that when I was a boy, discovering my sexual identity was very traumatizing. I would not wish that on anyone!