In an interview with New York Magazine published this morning, the much speculated-about Zachary Quinto publicly identified himself as gay for the first time. In the past, the actor, most famous for his portrayal of Spock in 2009’s blockbuster Star Trek and for his role as the evil Sylar on Heroes, has been non-committal about his sexuality, refusing to comment on it as recently as last year in an interview with the New York Times . However, it’s not a complete surprise. Quinto has been a staunch advocate of gay rights, often spoken out against bullying, and even made a video for the “It Gets Better” project last year, all without commenting on his own sexuality.
Now, touching on the issue in the New York Magazine piece, Quinto says, “It’s like, you have the legalization of gay marriage in the state of New York and three months later you have Jamey Rodemeyer killing himself, yet another gay teenager bullied into taking his own life. And, you know, again, as a gay man, I look at that and say there’s a hopelessness that surrounds it. But as a human being, I look at it and say, “Why? Where is this disparity coming from and why can’t we as a culture, as a society, dig deeper to examine it?” We’re terrified of facing ourselves, we’re terrified of what we’ll find and so, instead, we seem to waste time and energy with small-mindedness and intolerance and with bigotry and with hatred and with fear.” Truer words have never been said.