To say you never heard of gay people once upon a time reminds me of the time Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told students at Columbia there were no gay people in Iran, which was met with howls of laughter. People might  not have bullied people for being gay when you were growing up, but they certainly bullied boys for being too effeminate or girls for being too tomboyish. As always, your smug indifference is as ugly as ever.