‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Wilson Cruz Recalls Being Bullied in High School, Says Fellow Gay Students ‘Saved My Life’
Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Wilson Cruz will never forget the bullying he endured while in high school in southern California. “I don’t even know what it was like not to be bullied,” the “Star Trek: Discovery” star says. “I was called f—– every day.
It got to the point where I didn’t even hear it anymore.” Cruz turned to fellow LGBTQ students and teachers for support. “I went to high school in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s before there were gay-straight alliances,” he says. “The only way I got through school was with my best friends –- the other four gays kids I knew at school.
I know because I had them in my life that I had a sounding board and that there was someone who could reflect back my own experience and make me feel like I was not not normal.
They saved my life. We saved each other’s lives.” It’s that experience that has fueled Cruz’s involvement with GLSEN, the 33-year-old nationwide organization that works to make schools safe for LGBTQ students and educators.
