Age is just a number?

Some say it is – but some say it’s a preference. I ran into a situation with someone after I told them that they were “too old” for me years ago and it continues to bother me from time to time.

As far as what my love interests are – I want someone around my age to experience life and grow with. It feels like much more of a team (which is feels natural to me)that way as opposed to an almost father/son, mother/daughter relationship where one person plays the “daddy”. Needless to say, I just dont find this kind of relationship attractive, nor would I be comfortable playing the older or younger figure. You could say, I want an egalitarian relationship with someone (factor in the fact that I’m gay). My justification is this – if you’re going to say age is just a number, might as well eliminate overweight-ism, racism, sexism, (any other elements that may affect pure attraction towards a person) etc. when it comes to attraction. I dont THINK I’m superficial for feeling this way as I think I could let certain things slide if I found the right connection with someone.

My question is this: Is that superficial? Is that placing restrictions on love? Is it being close-minded? Are you supposed to just blindly go for anything or anyone, even if you aren’t interested/attracted to them? If not, where do you draw the line?