Living in NYC likely shelters me from the continuing difficulties LGBT people face in wider society: discrimination, ostracism, misunderstanding. Especially for teenagers.

Which is why I was happy to participate in this series of PSA's for Live Out Loud. "The Homecoming Project" picks up where their previous effort, "It Gets Better," leaves off, encouraging established members of the community to reach out and mentor LGBT teens.

Working again with the good folks at Deutsch (fearlessly led by Richard Kolopeaua and ably produced by Cheryl Masaitis), we cast real people whose coming out stories exemplified the courage and range of experiences of this community.

With cinematography phenom Alex Disenhof, art director Stockton Hall, and producer Dana Discordia, we shot quickly over one day in the Rudolph Steiner school on the UES, teasing out these four moving, personal stories.

The campaign was edited by Patrick Burns Jr. and colored at The Mill.