Brian Michael Smith hails LGBTQ colleagues who 'put out the truth' amid disinformation
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In honor of Trans Visibility Week, '9-1-1: Lone Star' actor Brian Michael Smith, a proud trans-actor, shared how important it was for him to celebrate the LGBTQ community amid threats across the country and the need to keep fighting for the community.
Smith, who came out as transgender in 2017, opened up to People Magazine as he attented the 34th GLAAD Media Awards and said, “Coming together is exciting. It's really rewarding because I work with people who really put their money where their mouth is, in terms of who they are as authentic people. They bring that to their characters on the screen. They bring it in their attitude at work. So when we have moments like this, where we get to celebrate, we are truthfully, genuinely celebrating together and it just feels wonderful, because you don't have that all the time.”
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'It makes me feel like there is something that I can do'
Smith went on to say that being surrounded by his LGBTQ colleagues and allies continues to inspire and motivate him to keep doing what he's been doing, especially when he feels hopeless. He said that when he feels powerless, he looks around at his colleagues and allies in the LGBTQ community for encouragement and fights back, adding that every day is a challenge, but just being capable of communicating and showing them that he is still fighting feels like a reward.
Smith added during the conversation that “there's a whole community of people in the entertainment industry who are trying to put out truth in the midst of all this misinformation and it emboldens me a little bit.”
Grateful for his second-grade teacher
The actor also took the opportunity to thank his second-grade teacher, Mrs Kitzman, for being one of the first teachers who validated and recognized him just the way he was. He said she gave him self-belief because several things he said others would see as a problem, but Mrs Kitzman would tell him that it was a part of him and they would figure something out for him.
Smith went on to say that his second-grade teacher instilled in him a love of reading, as well as a love of his voice and the ability to stand tall in whatever he did in life and that this helped him get to where he is today. He also appreciated his teacher wife Denisse Perez for all the work she does with children.