Child star stggled to e out after playg 'the gay kid' 'School of Rock'

Contents:

• CHILD STAR STGGLED TO E OUT AFTER PLAYG ‘THE GAY KID’ ‘SCHOOL OF ROCK’
• WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
• WHEN DO GAY KIDS START “ACTG GAY”?
• COLORADO MOM SAYS 9-YEAR-OLD SON WHO CAME OUT AS GAY DIED BY SUICI AFTER SCHOOL BULLYG
• AFTER PLAYG THE GAY KID SCHOOL OF ROCK, AN ACTOR ADJTS TO LIFE OFF CAMERA
• 'SCHOOL OF ROCK' ACTOR BRIAN FALDUTO WAS HOMOPHOBIC TOWARD HIMSELF AFTER PLAYG 'THE GAY KID'
• GAY KIDS COMG OUT YOUNGER, BUT PARENTS ASK "HOW DO YOU KNOW?"

CHILD STAR STGGLED TO E OUT AFTER PLAYG ‘THE GAY KID’ ‘SCHOOL OF ROCK’

Former child actor Brian Falduto says that he wasn’t able to e out until his senr year of llege bee of the stggl he faced after beg dubbed “the gay kid” om “School of Rock. “I was so much nial [about my sexualy growg up], ” he said on the “Cooper and Anthony Show, ” “Thk about : I was the fifth gra when this movie me out and I was lled gay, and then someone told me that’s not ol, so I was jt like, ‘Oh, ok, then I’m not gay’.

WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

“So I was nyg before I even had a notn of what [beg gay] was, ” he told rad hosts Cooper Lawrence and Anthony Michaels. Beg known as “the gay kid” om “School of Rock” stopped Brian Falduto om g out for years. “So by the time I realized I was potentially gay, I was already homophobic towards myself, sentially, ” Falduto, who is now an actor, filmmaker, mician and life ach said.

WHEN DO GAY KIDS START “ACTG GAY”?

Each year, seems, we hear the stori of the clash of culture and genr when a high school stunt who is gay is banned om attendg the prom, or pays a price for gog. This year is no different, om a Mississippi unty school board banng 18-year-old Constance McMillan, who wanted to wear a tux and brg her girliend, to the Miami gay senr who was crowned prom queen -only to be disowned by his own fay. Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr stunts face unique and often cel stggl to fd their place Amerin high schools.

COLORADO MOM SAYS 9-YEAR-OLD SON WHO CAME OUT AS GAY DIED BY SUICI AFTER SCHOOL BULLYG

Today, we hear om a Los Angel school admistrator charge of equy and diversy, and om an advote whose anizatn has helped gui gay kids through the maze of high school life. How do you al wh the issue of proms and gays the L. COX: Now, is there an office, an anizatn, an agency wh the district that is set up to al specifilly wh the issu of gay stunts?

COX: One of the areas that has been an issue the gay, lbian, transgenr muny, as far as public schools are ncerned, is whether or not to tegrate the stunts to the mastream populatn or to some way segregate them, even if is jt for their safety. COX: Is possible, Judy, to tablish wh a school settg, let's say, a program that will benef stunts who are lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr - not discrimate agast them but at the same time, allow them to have the fort of beg an area where they n feel fortable? We do have like, clubs - like the Gay-Straight Alliance would be a place.

Our Gay-Straight Allianc are what they sound like. We don't know which of our stunts are gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr.

AFTER PLAYG THE GAY KID SCHOOL OF ROCK, AN ACTOR ADJTS TO LIFE OFF CAMERA

If you'd like to jo the nversatn about the liftyl of gay stunts public high school, you n ll at 800-989-8255. DAWN: As a teenager, I was gay, and I was school.

After one particularly odd sleepover, everyone found out that I was gay, and was absolutely horrible.

You know, so we would do some kd of supprsn terms of the anti-gay harassment that you experienced and plement that wh tnal terventns bee is through tn that we n really end bias. She is the executive director of the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network - to talk more about how gay stunts n be assisted. We're talkg about life as an openly gay teen public school.

'SCHOOL OF ROCK' ACTOR BRIAN FALDUTO WAS HOMOPHOBIC TOWARD HIMSELF AFTER PLAYG 'THE GAY KID'

We are talkg about gay stunts and high school, public high school, and we are talkg wh Judy Chiasson wh the Office of Human Relatns, Diversy and Equy the L. She is the executive director of the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network, also known as GLSEN.

ELIZA BYARD (Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network): It's a great pleasure to be here. Those are the clear non-discrimatn and anti-bullyg, anti-harassment polici that explicly clu sexual orientatn and genr exprsn and genr inty as among those tegori of protectn; havg supportive faculty and school staff available to young people to help them when issu arise; the prence of stunt clubs, monly known as gay-straight allianc, or GSAs, and other stunt advocy to improve school climate; and the prence of clive curricular elements that accurately and appropriately pict LGBT people, history and life.

I am a queer teacher Columb, and the big thg I've noticed, the big problem that I have had, is I live a state where is still legal to fire someone for beg gay. You know, when you're gay 's kd of easy to pick out other homosexuals, be gaydar or whatever. I thk Judy embodi what I thk is bt all people who go to tn, but I do have to pot out that there are ser stutnal barriers across the untry for teachers, gay or straight, who wish to reach out and help stunts who are havg a hard time.

GAY KIDS COMG OUT YOUNGER, BUT PARENTS ASK "HOW DO YOU KNOW?"

And fact, eight stat this untry, there are laws that specifilly prohib posive discsns of homosexualy public schools. CHIASSON: I would love to be able to say that there is no anti-gay harassment or bias anywhere L.

Daniel says: I grew up gay and was out throughout junr high school and high school. Maybe was bee I was never tght that beg gay is wrong. And I thk the key thg - thkg about that first email - is that this is about the fact that 90 percent of stunts, gay and straight, report that they hear anti-gay ments, anti-LGBT ments at school every sgle day.

Stunts we asked - a natnal sample of sendary school stunts, middle and high school, the - gay and straight - about the most equent bas for bullyg and harassment their schools, and the top three that were listed were physil appearance and body size, actual or perceived sexual orientatn, and whether a stunt was perceived to be, quote-unquote, mascule or feme enough. So I thk that there's a mon misnceptn, that alg wh LGBT issu K-through-12 schools is about - fundamentally about promotg a - someone beg lbian or gay. Primarily, is about rcg the sea of anti-LGBT sentiment that fuels a lot of bullyg that has nothg to do wh a specific personal anim agast a gay dividual.