High school senior Mason Bleu came out as bisexual during his speech as valedictorian, continuing a trend of students coming out at graduation. His brave speech was met with cheers and applause from classmates and teachers.

In his speech, Bleu said:

“I want to end this speech by saying the only way we can make a change is by being educated. I want to remind all of you to always be proud and to always remain humble. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished, be proud of who you are. Continue seeking knowledge and most importantly find ways to educate yourself.

I’ve struggled to be proud of something all my life, and since I’m preaching about being proud today, it’d be hypocritical of me to continue hiding. Not some people like getting emotional so saying is extremely personal and hard.

For a long time, I’ve struggled with my sexuality. I’ve dodged it and ignored it because I wasn’t proud of who I am. But today I’m changing that. I’m proud to be a bisexual man.

I’ve struggled with being proud of myself for a long time because I was afraid that no one else would be proud of me and for me.

But an important thing about being proud is that you should always be proud of yourself before you want anyone to be proud of you.

On that note, I want to thank everyone for coming out today because I just came out so thank you for coming out.”

All throughout the speech, classmates and teachers stood and clapped, cheered and one even gave him a hug.

So I came out during my valedictorian speech. It was definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever done but the reaction was amazing. Thank you to everyone who supported me! #Pride2019 #LGBTQ pic.twitter.com/u8ih03NTJd

— mason ?? (@maasonbleu) June 29, 2019

Bleu tweeted about it afterward, saying that he came out “not only for me but for anyone else who has struggled being closeted.”