When Louis Gagner (12) came out to his parents in 2016, he wasn’t sure how they were going to react.

“Once I [came out] to my parents, it was good. I thought they were going to throw me out of the house, but my parents aren’t bad [and accepted me],” Gagner said.

As a person who is comfortable with himself and his sexuality, Gagner holds the position of a role model to others who may be questioning their own sexuality.

“I’m proud because I am able to have a voice and I am able to be [someone] people can look up to if they don’t know what they’re thinking. I’ve helped people find out what they are and that makes me feel proud of myself and happy,” Gagner said.

But, despite being proud of who he is and comfortable with his sexuality, Gagner still deals with others who do not accept him for his sexuality.

“There are some people in this school who will avoid me or I’ll have to avoid them because they’re not very friendly to LGBT community,” Gagner said.

Since Gagner had a good experience coming out to his parents, he encourages others to not be afraid of embracing who they are.

“Don’t be as scared because there are a lot of people that are scared to talk to their parents. Your parents are going to be more supportive than you think,” Gagner said.