Chris Colfer remembers what it was like being afraid to come out.
The actor and children's book author was on The View recently when he opened up about what it was like when he first signed on to star in Ryan Murphy's groundbreaking teen musical series Glee and realized he would be playing a gay character, Kurt Hummel.
"I grew up in a very conservative town where being openly gay was dangerous. I remember when I got on [Glee] the role was written for me, and I did not know what the role was gonna be, and so I opened the script and when I read the script for the first time was when I saw that it was an openly gay character and I was terrified," he said.
"When I started filming the show I had a lot of people tell me, 'Do not come out whatever you do because it will ruin your career.' So I hid for a little bit," he admitted. "But I also told them, 'I can't hide it with my voice… I'm more effeminate than most people. I can't hide it.' And they said, 'Don't worry. As long as you never address it, you'll be rewarded for it in the end.'"
However, during press for the show, he realized how important it, and his role on the show, were.
"We went on this big poster signing tour right before the show came out, and this little boy secretly slid me an envelope when his parents weren't looking and I opened it up and it was a little not that said, 'Thank you,'" he said. "And there was a little paperclip chain that was the colors of the rainbow, and in that moment I knew I have to come out."
"At the time, I was thinking, 'OK, yeah, if I'm an openly gay actor, yeah, I may never win a major award. I may never get to play a superhero. But I think being a beacon of positivity and providing that comfort for people is way more important than attention."