A brave schoolboy has received a standing ovation after coming out as gay during an emotional speech at an end-of-year event.
Harry Dynes, a student at Blue Mountain College in West Otago, New Zealand, gave his valedictory speech to the school last Tuesday.
The 17-year-old is the head boy at the rural high school.
“Another thing I have struggled with, besides my anxiety, for as long as I can remember, but especially during my time here at BMC, is my identity,” he said.
“Since I was very young, eight or nine, I knew I didn't exactly fit in like everyone else… I knew I was gay.”
Harry's confession sparked cheers from the audience of about 500 students and staff.
“Hiding this away for so long has been one of the most painful and exhausting experiences of my life,” he continued.
'The feeling it gives me is difficult to explain, but simply put, it's as if I just existed and wasn't alive.'
Harry said he was “really nervous” in the run-up to the speech, but felt “quite calm” when the day arrived.
“It definitely felt like a weight off my shoulders, it was a nice feeling to let it all go and just be myself I guess,” he told the New Zealand herald.
The brave student said he wrote the speech in September, but it “took a while to sink in.”
He hopes his revelations will encourage other young people to feel empowered to share their own similar stories.
Harry's speech received a standing ovation from students and staff
“If I can help at least one person, then that's a good thing, right?” he said.
His mother, Katrina Dynes, said she was proud of her “brave and courageous” son.
The speech and its reception showed how 'brave, loved and strong Harry is'.
Harry, who lives in the small town of Waikoikoi on New Zealand's South Island, plans to spend his summer holidays working at a local supermarket before leaving to study a Bachelor of Communications at the University of Otago.