A New York City high school valedictorian by the name of Mason Bleu courageously came out as bisexual during his graduation speech. 

The 17-year-old graduate told BuzzFeed News that coming out during his speech was a relief, but putting it together took time. In writing his speech, Bleu said his message originally centered on “being proud… of who you are” and what he and his fellow classmates had accomplished. He soon realized that there was more he wanted to say. 

“Towards the end [of writing my speech], I realized that if I didn’t include the part of me that should be proud of who I am, it would be hypocritical if I asked anyone else to,” he said. 

Prior to his speech, Bleu said that only two people knew about his sexuality. He subscribed to the notion that “no one has to know; it’s nobody’s business.” 

After posting a video of himself delivering his valedictorian speech, the teen received an outpouring of support on Twitter. 

“For a long time I’ve struggled with my sexuality,” Bleu said during his graduation remarks. “I’ve dodged it and ignored it because I wasn’t proud of who I am. But today I’m changing that. I’m proud to be a bisexual man,” which caused the audience of classmates and families to erupt in applause. 

Bleu, whose tweet has since gone viral with more than 930,000 views, received a message from “Old Town Road” singer Lil Nas X, who recently came out and offered support to the recent graduate. 

This fall, Bleu will attend the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. There, he will pursue acting.

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