Zachary Quinto Speaks Out For The First Time "As A Gay Man"

Zachary Quinto chatted with NY Magazine about his eight-month run in the play Angels in America, and for the first time the actor spoke openly about his sexuality.

In the production, Quinto plays Louis Ironson, a man who leaves his AIDS-stricken boyfriend, and he tells the mag, "It was the most challenging thing I've ever done as an actor, and the most rewarding." Quinto added, "At the same time, as a gay man, it made me feel like there's still so much work to be done, and there's still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed."

Later in the interview, the Star Trek actor discusses the struggle for gay equality and acceptance in society. "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," Quinto says. "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."