Well, first of all, you're a brave man.
It's a hard thing to do-- to come out.
It's a very, very difficult thing for a lot of people.
And for you to do it--
first of all, congratulations for being that brave.
And then to do it at your commencement speech at BYU--
tell everyone about BYU-- if they don't understand.
Yeah, so I just graduated from Brigham Young University.
It's a college in Utah.
And we're known for our very strict honor code.
So we agree before we go-- we can't drink alcohol, smoke
tobacco, and we can't enter into gay relationships.
So that means no holding hands-- no kissing.
So it's pretty tough there sometimes.
Especially, if you're gay.
OK.
Yeah.
Yeah, or want to drink.
[ALL LAUGHING]
All right, so what made you decide
that that's how you were going to come out, in front
of-- because that's bold.
Thank you.
Yeah.
So it's something I've been wrestling with my whole life.
And I thought-- you know, should I do it, should I not.
And ultimately, I decided there's no better place
to do it than here.
I thought-- I'm ready, this is a new chapter in my life.
I'm graduating and I want to live more authentically, live
more honestly.
And more than that, I want to give visibility
to the other students who are gay-- who maybe
aren't so ready to come out.
Yeah, well you heard people responding when
you talked about the community.
So were you nervous when you were--
did you almost chicken out or how did you feel?
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
My hands were so sweaty.
I was so nervous.
I was going back and forth.
Well, I'm going to do this--
no, I'm not going to do it.
I'm going to do it--
I'm not going to do it.
And I got right up there and it just felt so right.
I was so ready to do it.
Yeah.
Well, that's fantastic.
So there are certain things that I know that I'm not
allowed to ask you.
What are those things?
Man, Ellen.
So as I said before, our honor code
is very strict-- that we agreed to live by.
So I couldn't-- if there was somebody I liked,
I couldn't kiss them-- kiss him or hug him or even maybe shake
his hand.
If somebody saw me--
Wait-- if you like someone, you can't shake their hand?
I mean, potentially, any signs or show of homosexual
feelings-- so potentially--
I have a male friend.
If I gave him a hug, somebody could report me
to the honor code and I could be expelled for it.
Even if he's just your friend?
Even if he's just my friend.
OK.
All right.
And it's really scary.
As a gay student, I'm trying to figure out my feelings,
understand my faith, and on top of it I have--
everybody is watching me.
And I'm so worried and afraid of losing all
that I've worked for academically.
Right.
Because you're still Mormon.
You want to be a Mormon, but you want
to also live your authentic life-- like you said.
That must be very confusing.
Yeah, something I've got to deal with every single day.
I'm still dealing with it.
Yeah.
And is that why you waited until graduation
to come out-- because it is such a hard thing to be
in that honor code, in that school?
Yeah, exactly.
And actually, I'm not sure if you're
aware-- the white thing that I'm wearing around
my neck in my graduation-- it's called a Stole of Honor.
And so when you wear that, you get
to choose somebody to honor.
And so I actually decided to choose
someone that was in one of my classes
my freshman year-- so it was my second semester.
And I chose to honor student named Harry Fisher.
So he-- it was his last semester,
and he was sort of in a similar situation as I was,
and he decided to come out on Facebook.
And because of the rhetoric and the response
that he got from our community, he actually
ended up committing suicide.
(EMOTIONALLY) You know, and he sat right in front of me,
and I saw him do that, and I thought-- is that my future.
Is that what I'm headed toward?
So I thought-- if I came out at graduation,
maybe a student like me-- a freshman-- gets
to know my future is something brighter.
It's something better-- we can succeed.
We can do what we want and accomplish our dreams.
And so that's why I chose to come out there.
[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]
It really is-- it's all about visibility.
And I think a lot of times, some people want to keep us quiet
and pushed away because they don't understand it
or they're fearful--
and for different reasons.
And I think that we all want to be seen.
You know?
Whoever we are, we should all be seen.
Absolutely.
And so what you did was pretty amazing.
Because-- and especially to be here.
You are going to be seen by a lot of young people that say,
I can be happy--
I can be successful.
And I know your dad had some-- this is amazing.
Tell everyone what your dad said.
Yeah, so the night before, I told my dad-- hey, listen--
I think I'm going to include this in my speech.
I just want you to be aware.
And I'm really worried about how my aunts and uncles are
going to respond, my grandparents, and beyond that.
And my dad looked at me and he said, Matt--
if people have a problem with what you're going to say--
it's a problem with them, not with you.
We love you, we're here for you, and that's all that matters.
That's a good dad.
He's a great dad.
Yeah.
[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]
That's a good dad.
Thank you.
All right, so what do you want to do when you graduate?
Well, I'm moving up to Salt Lake City.
I'm going to start a new internship there--
I'm hoping long term.
I studied political science--
I'd love to make it out to D.C. or somewhere.
But in the meantime, just looking for a new place.
And I'd really, really love to get
involved with the LGBTQ community in Salt Lake.
For a long time, I've been really afraid and kind of
scared to participate.
And now is my time to shine.
I'm ready to live authentically and I want to get involved.
That's great.
Well, Dan Reynolds did a lot for that community there too.
Yeah, he's awesome.
Yeah, he's amazing.
Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons
did a documentary that was incredible.
Well my friends at Shutterfly love inspiring stories
like yours, and they want to give you a check for $10,000
to help you do whatever you want.
[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]
Oh, my gosh!
All right, Matt-- we'll be right back.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel,
so you can see more awesome videos.
Like, videos of me getting scared or saying
embarrassing things--
like ball-pein hammer-- and also some videos
of Ellen and other celebrities-- if you're
into that sort of thing.
Ahh!
God-[BLEEP].