Wilson Cruz shares heartbreaking memories of being bullied in school: “I was called f*ggot every day”

I don’t even know what it was like not to be bullied. I was called f*ggot every day. It got to the point where I didn’t even hear it anymore.

I went to high school in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s before there were gay-straight alliances,. The only way I got through school was with my best friends –- the other four gays kids I knew at school.

I know because I had them in my life that I had a sounding board and that there was someone who could reflect back my own experience and make me feel like I was not not normal. They saved my life. We saved each other’s lives.

Every student should have the ability to have the best experience in school where they can learn the most and feel the most supported. They shouldn’t have to feel like they have to get out of there as soon as they can and by the skin of their teeth.

If you believe that our schools are the place that our students need to feel the safest, this is the organization you need to be supporting.

Wilson Cruz speaking to Variety about being bullied as a young person and his new role as chair of the board of LGBTQ student organization GLSEN.