Student Uses Senior Quote to Tell Parents He's Gay

A Hazlet high school senior’s yearbook quote has gone viral.

Maxwell Barrett, 18, a student at Raritan High School in Hazlet, chose this for his yearbook quote:

“Of course I dress well, I didn’t spend all that time in the closet for nothing.” - Unknown.

“I either wanted to do something meaningful or something out of this world that others haven’t seen before ... I had yet to come out to my parents about me being gay (but of course they already knew), so I thought this would be the funniest and easiest way to do so,” he told Cosmopolitan.

He got thousands of favorites on Twitter, then 70,000 reblogs overnight on Tumblr, Cosmopolitan.com said.

He told the Huffington Post he rephrased a quote he had seen online, and said he was already “out” as gay to most people around him, but had not yet officially told his parents.

His story has also been featured on the websites of other media outlets, including Mashable, Teen Vogue, Today.com and a website in Australia.

He told Today.com that his quote was a huge hit at school and his parents were proud of him:

“My parents are so proud of me for being myself, and I love them for all the support they have given me and will continue to give me moving forward.’’