This picture of an unnamed teen crying has broken hearts around the world, even prompting Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres to write messages of support.
The unnamed boy’s teary picture, which was taken on the stoop of a New York City brownstone, was shared on the Humans of New York Facebook page on Saturday and since then has been liked more than 600,000 times and shared close to 60,000 times.
The original post was captioned with the boy’s words: “I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about what my future will be and that people won’t like me.”
In just a few hours the post was overrun with messages of support from strangers on the internet and it wasn’t long before some pretty famous celebrities got on board.
Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, 67, reached out to offer this advice to the distressed boy:
“Prediction from a grown-up: Your future is going to be amazing. You will surprise yourself with what you’re capable of and the incredible things you go on to do. Find the people who love and believe in you – there will be lots of them. –H”
The “H” indicates that the message was penned by the former Secretary of State herself, not her staff and has thus far received more than 69,000 likes including an official response from HONY who responded with: “Thanks for this Ms. Clinton.”
Hillary Clinton has long been an advocate for gay rights. Here she is in 2006 marching with then NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a gay pride parade.
TV host and vocal gay rights advocate Ellen DeGeneres, 57, also offered some wisdom to the boy when she wrote:
“Not only will people like you, they’ll love you … I just heard of you and I love you already.”
There has been a huge spotlight on the LGBTQ+ community in the US of late since the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right this past June.
Humans of New York is no stranger to viral posts. The blog, often showing the quirkier side of life in New York City, has over 13 million Facebook followers and has inspired copycat blogs in other cities and countries around the world, including Syria, Mumbai, India, and Tehran.
Ellen DeGeneres with wife Portia de Rossi whom she married in 2008.
One of the most liked comments on this particular post was written by Facebook user Jose Daniel Castillo.
In the message of support Castillo wrote:
“When I was growing up, being gay was the only way I defined myself. I wasn’t kind or intelligent or funny. I was just gay. And I let the world zero in on that one filter of me. Now that I’m (more) grown up, I’ve understood that I’m so much more than just homosexual. And learning to see myself as a kind, intelligent, and occasionally funny man – who incidentally is also gay – has had an incredibly healing effect on me.
My advice in short: don’t focus on being gay or not gay. Focus on being a great human being, and you’ll love yourself all the more for it. Big big hug, little guy!”
Yes, big hugs all around for you little man! #Love Wins.
