TEEN SUICIDE LEADS STAR TREK, HEROES STAR TO COME OUT AS GAY

Zachary Quinto, star of the most-recent Star Trek movie and the Heroes TV series, says that he decided to come out after the suicide of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer.

Quinto (34), who played Sylar on Heroes and Spock in the 2009 Star Trek movie, casually confirmed his sexual orientation while talking to New York Magazine last week.

In the interview, Quinto discussed how acting in the Off Broadway production of Angels in America opened his eyes to the impact of HIV and AIDS on gay men in the US in the 1980’s.

“Doing that play made me realise how fortunate I am to have been born when I was born. And to not have to witness the decimation of an entire generation of amazingly talented and otherwise vital men.

“And at the same time, as a gay man, it made me feel like I — there’s still so much work to be done. There’s still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed. The undercurrent of that fear and that, you know, insidiousness still is swarming. It’s still all around us…”

After the interview was published, Quinto wrote on his blog that the decision to come out was in part based on the recent suicide of Jamey Rodemeyer after he was bullied for being gay.

“When i found out that jamey rodemeyer killed himself – i felt deeply troubled. but when i found out that jamey rodemeyer had made an it gets better video only months before taking his own life – i felt indescribable despair.

“i also made an it gets better video last year – in the wake of the senseless and tragic gay teen suicides that were sweeping the nation at the time. but in light of jamey’s death – it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it – is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality.”