Peter Paige

Peter: Coming out is the single most important thing you can do for yourself and the community at large. It is the most powerful social and political statement you can make. Come out to everyone you know, because when you come out, you challenge all the lies and stereotypes that people have attached to our community. Coming out is never easy, but it is the best thing you can do for yourself. You deserve it. You deserve to live in a world where you don't apologize for who you are, so claim that for yourself. It is not anybody else's job to give you the life you deserve.

Peter: My coming out process was pretty good. I dated some guys in high school and a few of my friends knew about it. I think coming out is really an ongoing process, though. For me, the bulk of it occurred during college. I was lucky–my friends and family were supportive and I never lost a friend or anything like that.

Peter: I realized very quickly on Queer as Folk that as an actor you are really just a part of the machine and if you want to play a role in the real storytelling, you need be involved as a writer or a director. For me, I used Queer as Folk as "graduate school" to learn as much as I could about what happens on the other side of the camera. I would never just sit in my trailer when I wasn't filming. I would always go on the set, sit by the director, ask questions, and visit every department and learn about what they did and how it contributed to the overall production.