A high school student in New York
received cheers and applause from classmates and teachers when he
came out bisexual during his graduation speech.
Valedictorian Mason Blue, 17, used his
speech to talk about pride in who you are and what you do.
“I’ve struggled to be proud of
something all my life. Since I’m preaching about being proud today,
it would be hypocritical of me to continue hiding. I’m not someone
who likes getting emotional, so saying this is extremely personal and
hard,” Blue told the crowd.
“For a long time, I have struggled
with my sexuality. I’ve dodged it and ignored it because I wasn’t
proud of who I am. But today I’m changing that. I’m proud to be a
bisexual man.”
“I want to thank everyone for coming
out today because I just came out, so thank you for coming out. Thank
you so much and happy Pride!” he added.
During an appearance on CBS This
Morning, Blue explained that he knew that it was “right” to
share this moment with his class.
“As I was writing my speech, I was
writing about being proud of who you were, proud of what you’ve
achieved in high school or just any accomplishments you wanted to be
proud of,” Blue said. “And then I got to the end and I realized
there’s something that I should be proud of that I’m hiding from
everyone.”
Blue's video of him coming out went
viral on social media.