Out100 honoree and Advocate cover star Miles Heizer isn’t sure he deserves the accolades.
“When I first heard that I was being included in this list, I felt a little bit unworthy,” the star of Boots, about a closeted gay man in the Marines in the early 1990s, said at the Out100 party Friday night. “You know, there are people on this list that have dedicated their lives to advocating and fighting for our community, making real changes in our government, battling disproportionate LGBTQ homelessness rates and fighting to keep families together while the government and ICE is trying to rip them apart. That being said, I played a bald teenager on TV this year.”
“While I don't know that that qualifies me, I am very honored to be a part of this, so thank you,” he added.
Related: Boots: How a closeted Marine's story became a Netflix show
He said he was “very starstruck by a lot of the people in this room” and joked, “I've been staring at your pictures on Grindr for years, and it's very surreal to meet you in person.”
Then he got serious. “We're in a very strange time right now, and it really is more important than ever that we uplift each other and celebrate our achievements because it really wasn't that long ago that being here tonight would have been incredibly dangerous, and it really is because of the LGBTQ community that came before us that fought for a world where we could all be here tonight celebrating safely,” he said.
“So I really hope to use this platform to continue what they started and to remind the world that our message is very simple: It's love, acceptance, and equality. That's literally it. I don't know why there's so much pushback on that, but fortunately, our community is incredibly resilient and we are ready to face any challenge that comes our way, the same way we've done time and time again through history.
“When gay marriage was voted down continually, we gathered together and we saw the Supreme Court overturn gay marriage bans in 2015, yes. And when the government ignored the deaths of thousands of gay and trans people through the AIDS crisis, we rallied together and rioted and fought until we got proper treatment and prevention against HIV."
Related: Gay Boots stars Miles Heizer and Max Parker talk all-male spaces and the closet
“Yes, and then when the critics told us that All's Fair was unwatchable, we gathered together,” he went on, going back to humor. “And we made that a hit. So together we truly can do anything.”
“Thank you, guys,” he concluded. “Thank you so much for including me out.”
