ABC anchor Dan Kloeffler, who followed
actor Zachary Quinto out of the closet, says he wants to make things
better for gay youth.
The 35-year-old Kloeffler, who came out
while reporting a World News Now story earlier this month on
Quinto's
coming out gay, has said in a new op-ed published in The
Huffington Post that he came out to help gay youth.
“So why'd I do it? To fulfill a
promise I made to myself a few years back,” Kloeffler wrote.
“Like a lot of people who are
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, I knew pretty early that I was
'different' from everybody else. In grade school, I was an easy
target for teasing: a little chunky, glasses and painfully awkward at
sports. So to avoid being someone's prey, I usually ate by myself,
hid in the bathroom or stayed in the safety of the classroom during
lunch and recess.”
“As I was growing up, I swore that if
I ever enjoyed any kind of visibility or success, I was going to somehow
help break down the walls of hate that hold others captive.”
“Some might say I'm a little late to
the party, so I've got to make up for lost time. Unfortunately,
there's plenty of work to be done to show kids it's what's inside
their hearts that really counts,” Kloeffler added.