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I asked LGBTQ celebs what advice they'd give their younger selves. Here's what they said.

If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be? Be bolder? Care less (or more) about schoolwork? Don't sweat the small stuff?

We'd all have words of wisdom to pass down. But for LGBTQ people who've struggled with their identities as kids, those words may carry especially critical messages.

I posed the question to LGBTQ stars and allies who walked the red carpet at TrevorLive — a fundraising gala benefitting The Trevor Project — on June 11 in New York.

Here's what they had to say.

Figure skater Adam Rippon and skier Gus Kenworthy — two of the first openly gay male Olympians to compete for the U.S. — hosted TrevorLive. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy: "I would tell myself that — as hard as I'm going to try to be what everyone expects me to be or what I thought everyone expects me to be — in the end, it's not going to make me happy."

"The only time I'm really going to be happy is when I understand that and accept myself for who I am, and share that self with the world. And hopefully would have encouraged myself to do it a lot earlier."

Skiier Gus Kenworthy is among the first openly gay male Olympians in U.S. history. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

"Orange Is the New Black" star Natasha Lyonne: "I would tell myself, 'Kid, if you can make it — you, you troublemaker — we all can make it. It gets better.'"

"I would say to that person that everyone is a little bit broken, and that's their underlying beauty. So that's OK."

Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

Film producer Greg Berlanti: "A lot of the things I wanted to change about myself back then are the things I love most about myself now."

"And it doesn't seem possible when you're in that moment because you feel like they're preventing you from having the life that you want. But really they end up being the sort of gateway to the life that you want."

[rebelmouse-image 19347040 dam="1" original_size="819x1024" caption=""Love, Simon" director Greg Berlanti, who won the evening's Hero Award, prioritizes LGBTQ representation in his many film and TV projects. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project." expand=1]"Love, Simon" director Greg Berlanti, who won the evening's Hero Award, prioritizes LGBTQ representation in his many film and TV projects. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

Model and TV personality Carmen Carrera: "One word of advice I would probably give my younger self is to talk to my mom. Just talk to mom!"

"Tell her how you feel. And just know that everything is going to be OK — that you are a human being, that you belong here, that you have a place here, and you don't ever have to worry about people not loving you."

Carmen Carrera is a trailblazing transgender model and TV personality. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

Internet star and activist Raymond Braun: "I would say, 'I love you,' because my 10-year-old self was struggling a lot."

"At that point, I knew that I was gay, but I thought that I was going to live my entire life in the closet and never come out. I had so much internalized shame and hatred about my identity because I was being bullied every day."

Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

"I would have told myself to call [The Trevor Project] because I would have known there were resources out there and people out there."

The night was full of both celebration and sobering reflections for the 20-year-old nonprofit, which fights suicide among LGBTQ youth.

The event raised over $2 million for The Trevor Project — the most ever garnered from TrevorLive. Every penny of that and more is still desperately needed to save young lives.

Teens who identity as queer — and especially those who identify as transgender — are disproportionately affected by suicide. And while society has taken significant strides forward in LGBTQ rights and visibility, that progress has been met with backlash, fresh challenges, and a vicious political climate that often leaves queer youth particularly vulnerable.

Producer and actress Lena Waithe, who took home the organization's Hero Award alongside Berlanti, reminded the room that there's still much that needs to be done.

Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project.

"I'm really moved by the stories I'm hearing and the faces I'm seeing and all the love — but don't treat each other like this just in this room," she said. "We need to take it out into the world. ... It's our job to make sure all queer people are human. They weren't born to be perfect. They were born to be whole."

Learn more about LGBTQ youth suicide and support The Trevor Project here.

This gay skier's Olympic journey is a lesson for anyone struggling with their identity.

Four years ago, Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy hit the slopes in Sochi, Russia, with purpose, eventually landing on the podium with a silver medal. But he wasn’t completely satisfied.

After coming out in 2015, Kenworthy, 26, revealed to ESPN magazine the main reason he was disappointed with his performance: “I never got to be proud of what I did in Sochi because I felt so horrible about what I didn’t do. I didn’t want to come out as the silver medalist from Sochi. I wanted to come out as the best freeskier in the world.”

All Olympians dream of winning gold medals, but to Kenworthy, it was about more than marking personal athletic accomplishment. He’s eager to represent the LGBTQ community in America on the top of the podium as an openly gay man.

This year in Pyeongchang, Kenworthy may finally get to do just that. Today, he’s embracing his role as a representative of the LGBTQ community, competing in front of the entire world. And he’s primed for a gold medal.

Kenworthy in a ski jump. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

In January, Kenworthy spoke with Reuters, saying he feels more confident than ever, in part because he’s able to be his authentic self.

“I am more open with everyone in my life and I think it just translates into me being able to ski a little bit more freely and not have so much to focus on and worry about.”

However, considering he’s one of only two openly gay male athletes to compete for Team USA in the Winter Olympics, he’s also probably feeling the weight of responsibility.

Kenworthy joins 28-year-old openly gay figure skater Adam Rippon this year and both athletes have welcomed this historic opportunity to use their platforms in positive and effective ways, speaking out about the importance of inclusion and diversity at the Olympics — and also in everyday life.

“I’m representing myself and my country on the world stage,” Rippon told USA Today. “I have a lot of respect for this opportunity. What makes America great is that we’re all so different. It’s 2018, and being an openly gay man and an athlete, that is part of the face of America now.”

“I’ve got more eyeballs on me,” Kenworthy told the Associated Press a couple of days before the start of the Winter Olympics. “My platform’s a lot bigger. I signed a bunch of Olympic sponsors, and I have the LGBTQ audience watching me, and I want to do right by them.”

In line with that, he started a new national campaign with Head & Shoulders called “Love Over Bias,” and he appears in a television commercial while proudly wearing a rainbow flag over his shoulders.

“I got to hold a pride flag in a national campaign for the first time in history and that’s just an amazing feeling,” he said on "Good Morning America" while promoting the campaign.

“It’s so much better on the other side, and living your life honestly and authentically is such an important thing that nothing should get in the way of that.”

Gus Kenworthy. Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images.

Being known as a “gay athlete” and even as “the gay skier” doesn’t bother Kenworthy one bit. They are labels he’s not afraid of wearing, and he has no problem sharing his view on the subject.

“I’m definitely ‘The Gay Skier’ now, and that’s OK,” Kenworthy told the Associated Press. “I knew I was stepping into that role when I did it. In some ways, I don’t care that that’s the label that sticks. I took the step to come out publicly and I wear the badge proudly.”

For decades, LGBTQ athletes have struggled for acceptance in and out of locker rooms. Being out could mean losing sponsors, fans, friends, teammates, family, and in some cases, even a roster spot.

Like so many athletes before him, Kenworthy dealt with many of the same struggles. He performed at the highest level of competition while carrying the burden, stress, and heaviness of being in the closet. But he decided that being true to himself as both an athlete and a gay man far outweighed the risks.

As the world watches the Olympics unfold, there will plenty of young LGBTQ viewers and athletes among them. Kenworthy knows this. And he’s ready to show them that it’s more than OK to be true to who you are — it’s the best way to achieve your dreams.

Trump Jr. attacked Adam Rippon — except he got the facts wrong.

This is Olympian Adam Rippon — a self-proclaimed "glamazon bitch" and aspiring "America's sweetheart."

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

He's the first openly gay American man to qualify for the winter games. So — on top of his bronze-winning performance and viral one-liners — the historic nature of his qualifying has put an extra-bright spotlight on his stay in South Korea.

Also, he's not a fan of Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence was chosen by the White House to lead the U.S. delegation at the games. Rippon — noting the vice president's support for anti-LGBTQ public policies — wasn't on-board. "You mean Mike Pence — the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” the 28-year-old quipped to USA Today in January. “I’m not buying it.”

Many people have applauded Rippon's openly queer presence at the games and his candidness when it comes to politics. Donald Trump Jr. hasn't been one of them.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.

After Rippon told reporters in South Korea he doesn't "want [his] Olympic experience being about Mike Pence," the president's son went on the offensive.

"Really?" Trump Jr. tweeted. "Then perhaps you shouldn't have spent the past few weeks talking about him. I haven't heard him mention you once???"

Clearly, Trump Jr. hadn't Googled before tweeting, because his remark isn't all that accurate. In interviews in South Korea, Rippon has largely focused on the games and his performances, only mentioning Pence when asked about the vice president directly by reporters.

At the same time, Pence certainly has mentioned Rippon.

Pence has helped fuel the perception of an ongoing feud between the vice president and Olympian.

Rippon's remarks blasting Pence's past support for gay conversion therapy seems to have gotten under the V.P.'s skin. His press secretary Alyssa Farah responded to the accusations by Rippon as "totally false," with "no basis in fact."

But — again, for the millionth time — that's not the case.

As The New York times reported in 2016, Pence's congressional campaign website from 2000 clearly stated his support for the dangerous practice. It read: "Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior."

That didn't stop the vice president from brushing off Rippon's accusations and deeming the story "fake news." "[Rippon], I want you to know we are FOR YOU," the vice president tweeted on Feb. 7. "Don’t let fake news distract you."

Pence also reportedly went through the extraordinary step to set up a meeting with Rippon as well, but the Olympian — much to fanfare of LGBTQ advocates everywhere — declined the offer. (Pence's office denied the vice president attempted to arrange a face-to-face, but Rippon's agent said the reports claiming otherwise were "100% true.")

If Pence wanted this story to die in January, he's certainly done a terrible job extinguishing the flames.

In the wake of Trump Jr.'s tweet, actor Ike Barinholtz called out the president's son for causing a distraction.

"Nothing more patriotic than taunting a U.S. Olympic athlete during the Olympics," he wrote on Twitter.

Rippon replied to Barinholtz with a lighthearted quip: "The tea is exceptionally good today."

Go get 'em, Adam.

Hillary Clinton weighed in on America's openly gay Olympians.

Hillary Clinton isn't quite ready to sit still on the sidelines in U.S. politics — but she's more than happy to watch the Winter Olympics from there.

"I have to tell you, I shut my eyes [watching] the luge or the skeleton; that's too scary," Clinton said to laughs at the Makers Conference — a summit focused on women's issues — on Feb. 7 in New York City. "But I will open [my eyes] to see who's won."

After giving a rousing speech encouraging women to speak up and hit the voting booths in the 2018 midterms, Clinton was asked by Makers founder Dylan McGee what she was most looking forward to about the Pyeongchang Olympic Games in South Korea, which start Feb. 9.

The former secretary of state didn't hesitate to weigh in on a couple of athletes who have recently made waves in the political realm.

"I love the athleticism and the stories of our athletes," Clinton said. "I'm excited that Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy will be the first openly gay Olympians for the American team."

Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Geisinger Symposium.

The conference crowd roared in approval of the history-making Americans.

Rippon, a 28-year-old figure skater, will represent Team USA on the ice.

Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images.

And Kenworthy, a 26-year-old skier, will rock the red, white, and blue on the slopes.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

Clinton's embrace of America's first openly gay male Olympians at the Winter Games comes amid a contentious back and forth between Rippon and Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence was picked by the White House to lead the U.S. Olympic delegation in South Korea. And Rippon wasn't on board with the decision.

"You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?" Rippon told USA Today, citing the vice president's cozy past with the harmful and homophobic practice. "I’m not buying it."

Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images.

Pence's team responded to Rippon's accusation that the vice president once supported conversion therapy by claiming Rippon's remarks were "totally false and has no basis in fact." On Feb. 7, Pence himself tweeted that "one reporter [is] trying to distort [an] 18-year-old non-story to sow seeds of division."

Pence's position on the issue in 2000, however, contradicts that defense.

"Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior," his congressional campaign website had read. It's difficult to read that as anything but his support of gay conversion therapy.

Rippon's comments had concerned the vice president so much, Pence took the extraordinary step of reaching out to the athlete to arrange a meeting, according to USA Today.

Much to the delight of many LGBTQ advocates online, however, the figure skater rejected Pence's offer. In a tweet on Jan. 20, Rippon suggested he may be open to speaking to the vice president after the competition in South Korea, but for now, he "personally [has] nothing to say to Mike Pence."

Kenworthy also took offense with the White House's decision to deem Pence the Olympic delegation leader. Sitting down with Ellen DeGeneres earlier in February, the skiier called the vice president "a bad fit" to lead Team USA: "I feel like the Olympics is all about inclusion and people coming together, and it seems like [Pence is] not really doing that."

He makes a great point.

Why should anyone feel pressured to respect a political leader who's railed against their rights for decades on end?

Clinton's admiration for the athletes — on and off the ice — struck quite a different chord.

"I'm going to be there cheering [Rippon and Kenworthy] on," she said to applause at the Makers summit. "Whether it's skating or skiing or anything else."

His remarks got under Mike Pence's skin. So the VP asked to meet. It … didn't work out.

As the first openly gay American athlete to qualify for the winter Olympics, figure skater Adam Rippon has a lot of things on his plate right now — chief among them, prepping for his performances in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

One item that won't make his to-do list? Meeting Vice President Mike Pence.

Rippon made waves last month for blasting Pence for his bigoted views on LGBTQ issues after it was announced the vice president would be leading the U.S. delegation in the Games' opening ceremony on Feb. 9.

“You mean Mike Pence — the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” Rippon said. “I’m not buying it.”

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

The vice president has been under fire from LGBTQ rights advocates for once supporting so-called "gay conversion therapy" — a dangerous practice that attempts to change a person's sexual orientation. Pence has denied ever endorsing the practice. Yet, his 2000 congressional campaign website read "resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior."

Rippon's not the only Olympian who's criticized the decision to make Pence the country's delegation leader. Openly gay skier Gus Kenworthy called the move "strange."

“To have somebody leading the delegation that [has] directly attacked the LGBTQ community ... just seems like a bad fit,” he recently explained to Ellen DeGeneres. “I feel like the Olympics is all about inclusion and people coming together, and it seems like it’s not really doing that.”

Rippon also challenged the vice president's faith in his interview with USA Today, wondering how a "devout Christian" could possibly stand by President Trump:

Pence was so troubled by Rippon's remarks, a new report in USA Today claims, that his staff reached out to the 28-year-old to meet in South Korea.

Rippon, however, didn't bite. The figure skater turned down a meeting with the vice president.

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

Rippon had said previously he may be open to meeting with Pence after the competition overseas. But for now, Rippon has medals to focus on.

Much of the internet rejoiced in Rippon's decision.

Some people chimed in that they were "so happy" Rippon decided to refuse a meeting.

"Can someone contact the International Olympic Committee?" another Twitter used wrote. "They need to give Adam Rippon the first medal of the 2018 Olympic Games."

While some agreed with Rippon on LGBTQ rights, they argued advocating for the queer community in front of Pence could be "a good thing."

But plenty of others pointed out that Pence's request could easily be a ploy at positive public relations.

"Our gay ferocious prince doesn’t owe that grinning goblin shit," quipped Louis Virtel.

Rippon is in South Korea to win medals for Team USA, after all — not carve out time for bigotry.

"I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren’t a friend of a gay person but that they think that they’re sick,” Rippon told USA Today. “I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that."

Adam Rippon just made U.S. Olympics history.

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

When the 28-year-old heads to South Korea, he'll be the first openly gay U.S. male athlete to compete in the Winter Games.

Can he get a hell yeah?

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.

Other male LGBTQ athletes have competed in the winter games in years past — notably, fellow figure skaters Johnny Weir and Brian Boitano — but none had been open about their sexual orientation heading into the competition.

Rippon may not be alone in sharing the title either.

Openly gay freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy could make it to Pyeongchang too.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

Kenworthy, who came out publicly to ESPN in 2015, will find out soon whether he'll make the cut for South Korea in February. He represented Team USA in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

It matters that openly LGBTQ athletes are representing the U.S. on the world stage. And that's not lost on Rippon.

As he explained to NPR (emphasis added):

Rippon isn't all serious business though.

In fact, he's often quite the jokester with his 54,000 Twitter followers.

Whether he's discussing his, er ...physical assets...

What it's like to be a gay athlete...

Or using familial bias to sway the judges...

Rippon certainly isn't afraid to be himself — in the rink or outside of it.

And as if blazing one trail wasn't enough, Rippon's age is also making Olympics history this year.

According to The Washington Post, 28-year-old Rippon will be the oldest U.S. figure skater to make a debut in the games since 1936.

He's ready to use his seniority to the team's advantage when it comes to mentoring fellow Americans Nathan Chen, 18, and Vincent Zhou, 17: "I always sort of feel like a leader or a big brother. I want the best for the both of them as we head into this Olympic Games.”

Nathan Chen (middle-left) and Vincent Zhou (middle-right) will join Adam Rippon (right) on Team USA Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

Making headlines for his age may be a bit less exciting than making LGBTQ history. But Rippon's happy to make light of the decade of experience he has over Chen and Zhou. “I’m so excited that my two sons are doing so well," he quipped to The Post about his teammates. "I’m honored to be their father."

The opening ceremony to Pyeongchang 2018 is set for Friday, Feb. 9.

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