Was I Just An Oblivious 11 Year Old?

I was watching a rerun of the Facts Of Life on Comcast OnDemand and I was SHOCKED!

It think it was the first episode of the series, back when Mollie Ringwald was still on it. Blair (Lisa Welchel) was running for Harvest Queen against the tom boy Cindy (Julie Anne Haddock). Blair accused Cindy of being "strange" for liking sports, not liking boys, and hugging girls and telling them "I love you." AAAHHH! Substitute "gay" for "strange" (which was what was definitely the implication) and OMG! I must have been totally brain dead to have missed that. I was already aware that I was gay, even though I didn't understand a lot of what that meant. I had no idea there was an entire sub-culture out there. I felt very much alone and strange. It just reinforces how far society has come in just 20 years. Already gay kids who are the same age I was in 1979 have support and resources that I couldn't have dreamed of. What will the next 20 years bring?

You take the good, you take the bad,
you take them both and there you have The Facts of Life,
the Facts of Life.

There's a time you got to go and show
You're growin' now you know about
The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.

When the world never seems
to be livin up to your dreams
And suddenly you're finding out
the Facts of Life are all about you, you.

It takes a lot to get 'em right
When you're learning the Facts of Life. (learning the Facts of Life)
Learning the Facts of Life (learning the Facts of Life)
Learning the Facts of Life.

End Credits

You'll avoid a lot of damages
an enjoy the fun of managing
the facts of life;
they shed a lot of light
If you hear them from your brother,
better clear them with your mother
better get them right,
call her late at night

You got the future in the palm of your hands
all you gotta do to get you through is understand
you think you rather do without,
you will never make through without the truth
the facts of life is all about you