Without a network to support him, Cruz turned to other queer students and to teachers. It got to the point where I didn’t even hear it anymore.”

“I don’t even know what it was like not to be bullied,” Cruz said. And so, it’s been a passion of mine to make sure that the school experience for queer students is better than the one that I had.”Ĭruz’s father kicked him out of their Southern California house on Christmas Eve, and he spent three months living in his car and at the homes of friends, he revealed in a 2020 podcast. But as he told Variety , most of his high school peers bullied him. “For 30 years now, I have been a voice for LGBTQ youth because of the fact that I was Ricky Vasquez. “This is my opportunity to help create a better world for the generations that come after me,” Cruz told the Blade. Wilson Cruz as Enrique Vasquez on “My So-Called Life.” (Photo courtesy of ABC Television) I really fought for her to become our executive director, and I wanted to support her in this role.”Īs he prepares to celebrate his 50 th birthday in a few months, Cruz reflected on his lifelong journey as an advocate: A trailblazer on television at just 15, his work supporting fellow Puerto Ricans, serving as GLAAD’s director of entertainment industry advocacy and as its national spokesperson, serving on the board at GLSEN and now as its chair. “Why I am doing it is because I really believe in our new executive director, Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, who just came on officially as our executive director after Eliza Byard left, And I really, truly believe in her leadership and in the vision that she has for GLSEN going forward. “This has actually been in motion for six months,” Cruz said in our conversation that day. And then he turned to the Blade and added, “You can’t print that yet! It’s off the record!”Īlthough newsworthy items are not traditionally considered “off the record” when a newsmaker says it after the fact, the Blade agreed to hold the story in exchange for this exclusive, in-depth interview following the official news release on July 26. “It’s basically an organization that works around the country to make sure that every school in this country is a safe place for queer kids,” said Cruz. Rapp asked his “Star Trek” “space boo” about the group’s current name, which Cruz confirmed will soon be known only by its acronym. “Just between you and the 30 people who are in here, I’m taking over as the chair of the board of GLSEN,” Cruz revealed to wild applause. The Blade asked each of the stars on stage that night at the New Worlds Stages theater in Manhattan what their plans were for Pride Month, and Cruz let it slip that he was about to embark on this new adventure with GLSEN. That evening, Cruz joined his “Star Trek” co-stars Anthony Rapp and Blu del Barrio for a Q&A with fans, following a performance of Rapp’s extraordinary one-man off-Broadway musical, “Without You.” Variety first broke the news on July 26, but as it turns out, the award-winning actor best known for “Star Trek: Discovery” and “My So-Called Life” and for his advocacy spilled the beans to the Blade way back on June 8.

“And it’s a great time to set a new course for this organization, because if there’s ever been a need for a GLSEN, it is in this moment when education and queer kids and the relationships to their education is so fraught.” For the first time in GLSEN’s 33-year history, its board chairs and executive director represent BIPOC, nonbinary and trans people. “It’s really a turning point for the organization,” Cruz told the Los Angeles Blade in a recent phone interview.

Wilson Cruz picketing during the SAG-AFTRA strike on Aug. These days, when actor, producer and activist Wilson Cruz isn’t walking a picket line with the Screen Actors Guild and supporting the striking members of the Writers Guild, he’s busy getting up to speed as the new chair of the board at GLSEN, the organization that is also known as the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network.

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