James Lecesne

Growing up in a New Jersey suburb, my Catholic faith was an important part of my young life, shaping the way I approached the world.

As an actor you make choices that are either right or wrong, and you find the ones that are right for you. As an understudy, the choices have been made, so you have to make those choices right. Going into the role, you can't really question it.

All young people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, need someone who's got their back.

In the early '90s, I wrote a play called 'Word of Mouth' in which I played a number of different characters. One was a thirteen-year-old boy who, through a series of diary entries, realizes that he's gay.

All of us, regardless of how we identify, need a community in which to grow our faith. We require the tangle of other souls to enlarge our hearts, to perfect our relationships with one another and to help us understand more deeply our better Selves (big 'S').

I knew that Jesus loved me, not because the Bible told me so but because my heart was informed by love. And later, for that same reason, I knew I was attracted to boys.