What about Chris Colfer gives it away that he’s gay? Better question: What about Chris Colfer gives it away that he was picked on in school?
The 20-year-old actor doesn’t have to worry much about classmates taunting him anymore, but through high school Colfer says he was victimized. And how did he get through it? By staying focused on his goals and going “full steam ahead.”
That’s, uh, lovely?
Not that Chris is really prescribing his solution as the panacea for bullied kids, picked on because they’re perceived as gay or otherwise, but keeping your head down and hiding in the shadows sounds like a miserable way to get through school. Might is also, sadly, be the most realistic?
How about we take this to the next level?
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PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Sad story, He was kinda coy on the whole “are you Gay” question for a while. I give him mega-kudos for having the balls to come fully out and be upfront about the shit he faced. Maybe his story will show some of the kids who taunt Gay kids that a Gay kid can be very successful despite their crap. There was a show on Fox a few years back, can’t remember the name of it. It was set in the 60’s and the kid the show was about had a friend who was so damm Queeny everytime he opened his mouth a rainbow poured out and unicorns rode on it. In real life the kid was pretty much the same, and during an interview someone asked him if he was taunted in school. He said, that by being who he is both in real life and in charachter he earned more at 14 in a year then most of the haters would earn any year in their entire lives……..
Eric Thor
Good for him. I’m not the biggest fan of the character Kurt(More of A Marshall Fan), but I have to say I love Chris! What a stand up guy. I was out in high school, and there wasn’t a single day I wasn’t called fag. It didn’t phase, and sadly it is expected to face bullying for out GLBT teens. I kept my head high, and my goals even higher. Glad Kurt is on TV every week so that kids have someone to identify with.
scott ny'er
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: “Maybe his story will show some of the kids who taunt Gay kids that a Gay kid can be very successful despite their crap.”
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And sadly, some of those kids will see that a gay dude became mildly successful AND will STILL bully/ pick on gay kids (and those that don’t fit the norm) at school, in the playground, etc.
Sometimes people just suck and won’t change.
BitchinaThong
Gay face.
Fitz
I like him a lot– hate the character he plays, but he seems like a good man. I was bullied in Junior High until I flipped, and beat the holy snot out of one of the “tough kids” in a red-stage rage fit, which I couldn’t duplicate if I wanted to. (at one point I was banging his face into a ceramic water fountain) It was a crazy moment, that left us both terrified. But it worked. My reputation lasted after that.
Toby
Ummm, my experience with Hollywood has always been….
If they don’t have extensive experience in singing, chances are, the whole show is Auto-Tune.
Which I don’t really mind so much, it’s just, Auto-tune, is taking away the coolness of being able to sing.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Fitz: Kudos for your teen rage against the strhaters! Sometimes thats all it takes is one “I’m mad as hell and not gonna take it any more” moment. In High School, one of my friends was Kyle. He was about 5′ nothing and the queenest thing you ever wanted to meet, everytime he opened his mouth a rainbow poured out with unicorns riding it! Am fairly certain he proclaimed he was out during the trip down the birth canal! He was always targeted by the haters-only once. Because Kyle was a 4th Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do……..
Fitz
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Thanks– yea, after that they called me “Captain Caveman” which was a serious upgrade from “fagot”. All the pacifism of the 60’s and 70’s is BS when you are a minority being physically assaulted and threatened. Gay kids: learn how to kick ass a little. It is the only language that they understand, so learn to speak it.
Giovannidude
@5 Fitz — Congrats for standing up to the bastards. I am proud of you. I hope some of the gay teens who are being bullied in school get to read what you said.
Mo
Depending on where you live staying in the closet in high school is sometimes your best bet. Who wants to exit high school more picked on and screwed up then when you entered it? If you are popular, the ever-present “straight acting” or have huge balls than coming out in High School may be for you. Things have gotten a little better but I doubt there are many truly “gay friendly” schools out there even in 2010. For a lot of kids, coming out just makes them feel like a freak (even more than most High School aged kids do) and makes them want to repress their true feelings.
As for Chris, if he gets asked 1 more time if he was picked on in school I am going to scream! I’ve heard this question asked of him a million times!! Everyone asking the question is already assuming the answer is YES so why dwell on it?
Ian
Since I have tried but am simply not a fan of ‘Glee’ but find Chris to be quite talented, I look forward to when this show is done so he can show us more of both his acting and singing range/talent. He has such a friendly vibe of cross-over appeal I could easily see him when he’s 30 starring in one of the first main network series of the life of a gay married couple with young kids, kinda like ‘Modern Family’ but with the gay couple as the main and only protagonists.
Bryan Harris
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: I think the show was ‘Oliver Beene’.
Jorge
I don’t think “full steam ahead” necessarily means to hide in the shadows. To me, it seemed like he was saying, ignore the bullying, don’t let it bother you, focus on your future which’ll be infinitely better.
Ian
On a funny unrelated side-note, Chris’ voice is just so angelic in it’s own way that I simply cannot imagine hearing him ever doing any dirty foul mouthed sex talk with a partner 😉
alan brickman
he had no problem bullying smaller gays I hear…..how typical playing gay sympathy card…..
thedarkchariot
@Eric Thor: I’m a Marshall fan too!
Chris Colfer seems like a great guy. Waiting for his boyfriend to appear!
Samwise
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: I think I remember that show! Is that the one where they flashed-forward to his future and he was living in San Francisco with his partner and their adopted Chinese daughter? I think I remember an episode where he hid a straight porno mag under his bed (for the main character), and then his mom changed the sheets and flipped the mattress and found it. And his dad didn’t punish him, but instead cried tears of happiness, which confused the hell out of all the kids.
The funny part is, I vividly remember that storyline because I remember thinking, “Oh crap, I’m supposed to flip my mattress over once a month? I haven’t been doing that at all…”
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Bryan Harris: TYVM!
Ian
LOL, I’m starting to wonder if Chris is a little TOO cherubic in appearance and voice, and if he has a 666 on his head and is in fact Damien the Anti-Christ from ‘The Omen’.
Rick
@Fitz: Captain Caveman? OMG! I think I went to school with you! LOL!
Ogre Magi
@Bryan Harris: and the gay character was Michael played by Taylor Emerson
Ed
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: the show was called Oliver Been (or Bean, can’t remember), and the kid was really queeny.