Like too many gay kids in high school, Justin Taylor was bullied.
I was a very closeted, afraid, little gay kid in high school. 15, 16 years old. Really afraid of people, really afraid of my attractions. And this guy, I don’t know how, picked up on it. And in the hallways in high school, when he would pass me, he would say, “Faggot!”
The bullying led to Justin not wanting to go to school. At the insistence of his mother, he studied abroad for a year which helped Justin return feeling better than ever.
I went and lived in France for a year and did high school there and saw that there was a big whole world out there full of people who care about me and that I can be whatever I am and there’s tons of room for it. … And I came back to little San Carlos walking taller, breathing better, and was doing Musical Comedy at school and even gave a graduation speech at the end of senior year. And then I found out a few years later that that guy, John, came out.
Continue Reading to watch Justin’s story.
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