An article from People.com

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Zachary Quinto: Why I Came Out
By Tim Nudd
Monday October 17, 2011 09:40 AM EDT

Zachary Quinto
PA Photos/Landov

In the wake of gay New York teenager Jamey Rodemeyer's suicide last month, Zachary Quinto had a crisis of conscience. He realized that hiding his own sexuality was doing nothing for the greater cause of hope and acceptance.

The Heroes and Star Trek actor, 34, who came out as a gay man in a New York magazine interview this week, explained that decision Sunday in a candid blog post on his website.

"In light of jamey's death – it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it – is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality," Quinto writes.

RELATED: Zachary Quinto: I'm a Gay Man

He adds: "I believe in the power of intention to change the landscape of our society – and it is my intention to live an authentic life of compassion and integrity and action. jamey rodemeyer's life changed mine."

Rodemeyer, 14, of the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, N.Y., killed himself on Sept. 18 after years of bullying by classmates.

Quinto says he felt "indescribable despair" when he learned that Rodemeyer had made a video just months earlier for the "It gets better" project – the nationwide initiative to give hope to gay youth.

"I am eternally grateful to him for being the catalyst for change within me," Quinto writes. "now i can only hope to serve as the same catalyst for even one other person in this world. that – i believe – is all that we can ask of ourselves and of each other."