Suzanne Rust

I'm Suzanne Rust.

This next story is about a young man's growing awareness of his sexuality and might not be suitable for everyone.

So if that's you or those around you, please just rejoin us in about seven minutes.

I'll spare you for my mediocre singing voice, but you know how the song goes.

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.

They say there's always magic in the air.

Well, our next teller, Christopher Broon Horan, found even more on Broadway.

He told this story at one of our Los Angeles Story Slams, which is supported by the public radio station KCRW.

Here's Christopher.

That was Christopher Bruhn Horan.

He lives in Los Angeles with his husband and their sons.

He's a playwright, essayist, and educator who, among other things, developed a storytelling program for inmates at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles.

It's hard to be different, especially when you're a kid.

And Christopher remembers being bullied and feeling isolated.

He was afraid of anyone discovering the truth about him.

Although his best male friend was also gay and they spoke every day, they didn't share that information with each other until they were in their 20s.

He says that the outside messages they got were that scary.

Eventually, he found his people in drama club and musicals in high school.

but he always felt afraid and self-conscious.

I asked Christopher what advice he'd give to his younger self, and he said, tell someone, anyone, shame is the worst.