People are often affected by the subject matter of a play or film that they see. I was affected by the play “The Laramie Project” when I was 15, but I didn’t see it. I was in it.

During my freshman year at San Ysidro High School, I heard about auditions for a production of “The Laramie Project” presented by Involving Minds in Peaceful Actions to Bring Communities Together. I was involved in mini-shows during middle school, and, with a lack of a theater program in my high school, I was interested in auditioning for my first play. I never imagined how the play’s subject matter would affect me.

“The Laramie Project,” by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project, is a documentary-style production about how the town of Laramie, Wyoming was changed by the murder of Matthew Shepard, a local gay college student.

I had always known I was gay, but it was tough for me to come out to my traditional mother and extremely conservative father.

Although my dad insisted I rethink getting involved in a play with this topic, I was persistent. Relenting, my father drove me to the audition and, to his credit, to every subsequent rehearsal from then on.

The experience of the show itself was utterly amazing.

The director, just out of high school, was very patient with me in this ensemble-based show despite my inexperience. The stories and dialogue presented in the piece struck a chord with me, as did the shared experience with the rest of the young cast. We were unified in honesty, portraying Matthew’s story through recreating the interviews with Laramie residents.

When it came to opening night, I was incredibly nervous, especially because my parents were coming to see it. As the play was done in an intimate black-box setting, there was very little separating the audience and the cast.

What transpired that night was an actual shared experience, forever changing my perceptions of theater.

My performance presented the situation from the opposing view of different characters, some who felt the murder may have been justified and some coming to grips with the crime’s atrocity.

As the entire cast shifted through each character’s reaction to the crime, the unease and compassion in the audience was palpable.

What was most striking to me was the theme of tolerance of homosexuality that reverberated from the production, to the audience and then back on to me.

I was finally ready to start accepting who I was and have pride in myself. More importantly, my parents both loved the show. My mother was even in tears.

As Oct. 11 approaches, bringing National Coming Out Day with it, I remember that “The Laramie Project” gave me a true passion for theater and began my very own coming out story. That night was the first time I ever felt comfortable with who I am, and my parents were there with me.

Windmills of My Mind is a column written by a different contributor every week on memories about a film, book, play, song, or piece of art. Interested in writing one? E-mail the editor at [email protected].