Miseducation of Myself.

Whittier, CA

Brian Anderson, who’s been a pro skateboarder since 1998, came out as gay in an interview with Vice this week. 

He spoke about how he heard homophobic bullying directed at others when he was a kid, and he got into skateboarding partially to avoid facing being gay. But after many years of keeping his identity quiet, he decided now was the right time to talk about it.

“People ask, ’Why are you doing this now and not earlier?’” he told Vice. “It would have been a lot more beneficial. … I was really scared, and people would have perceived it a lot differently, I think, had I said this 15 years ago.” […]

Anderson explained that he’s coming out now to offer hope to LGBT youth who may be confused or struggling with their sexuality.  

“I think about how I felt when I was younger, totally scared — a lot of these kids don’t have hope,” he said. “To hear what I went through and how everything got better for me and how I felt a lot happier and felt more free and didn’t have all this shame buried inside my body… to convey that message was really important to me.”