A New Jersey high school student revealed something about himself while accepting an award for class actor in front of his entire senior class.
During an awards ceremony last Friday, Parsippany High School senior Jacob Rudolph stood on stage in front of 300 students, as well as teachers and parents, and told the crowd that he is gay.
“I’ve been in a few plays and musicals, but more importantly, I’ve been acting every single day of my life,” Rudolph told the crowd. “You see, I’ve been acting as someone I’m not; when most of you see me everyday you see me acting the part of straight Jacob, when I am in fact an LGBT teen.”
“So take me, leave me or move me out of the way because I am what I am and that’s how I’m going to act from now on,” he concluded.
The revelation was met with cheers and a standing ovation.
“It just felt like all the tension in my body was gone,” Rudolph told 1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg. “I could never have pictured that kind of reaction.”
The 18-year-old said he was living a lie for too long and couldn’t take it anymore.