Hillary Clinton offered encouragement to a tearful gay child fearful for his future, reassuring him it would be “amazing” in a comment on a viral photograph posted by the Humans of New York Facebook page.
The young boy — who was not named in line with the photo blog’s style — is shown red-eyed and looking distraught in a post on the page.
“I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about what my future will be and that people won’t like me,” the caption reads.
While the post had racked up more than 550,000 “likes” as of Sunday, one of the many comments stood out — it had a campaign logo.
“Prediction from a grown-up: Your future is going to be amazing,” the comment from Clinton’s official campaign page said. “You will surprise yourself with what you’re capable of and the incredible things you go on to do. Find the people who love you and believe in you — there will be lots of them.”
The comment was signed with an “H,” which the Clinton campaign has used on social media to signal posts written by the presidential candidate herself.
Clinton’s words of encouragement received more than 52,000 likes — and a thank you from the Humans of New York page itself.
— Kristina Schake (@kristina_schake) July 3, 2015
Ellen Degeneres also appeared to offer her support, with a comment from her television show’s official Facebook page under the picture reading: “Not only will people like you, they’ll love you. I just heard of you and I love you already.”
The Humans of New York Facebook page has more than 13 million followers. Photographer Brandon Stanton started Humans of New York in 2010 as a way of capturing the daily life of the city’s inhabitants. He later began including quotes from interviews with his subjects alongside their portraits.
Cassandra Vinograd