Lance Bass Once Bullied Gay Kids Like Him

Lance Bass: INFDaily.com.

Lance Bass explains gay teen taunts to Larry King.

It's a phenomenon that has shocked anyone who's ever had a gay loved one: at least five teenagers committed suicide in September, thanks to taunts at school over their homosexuality.

Monday night "Larry King Live" featured superstars like Nate Berkus, Tim Gunn and discuss what it's like to grow up gay...and in a shocking revelation, Lance Bass confessed that at one time, he was a bully to gay schoolmates.

Lance Bass took some time off the radar after his rise to fame with N'Sync, but by the time he hit "Dancing with the Stars" in 2008, Bass had removed himself from the world of obsessive teenage girls to come out of the closet as a gay pop artist. In an interview two years ago, Bass courageously said that he'd be willing to dance with another male on a dance competition show.

Watch! Jane Lynch Thanks Ellen DeGeneres for Helping Celebs Come Out (VIDEO)

Today Lance Bass is one of many gay celebrities, but he admits that the road to embracing his identity has been a tough one. Lance once admitted that he married a female friend just to draw attention from peers, and on Monday night's episode of "Larry King Live," 31-year-old Bass shared that as a child, he was one of the kids making nasty slams against schoolmates for possibly being gay. Via HuffPost, Larry King asked Lance Bass, "You made fun of gay kids in high school to hide your own secret -- did you think you were harming your own kind?"

Read: Blue Power Ranger David Yost Is Gay, Considered Suicide

Bass responded, "That's right ... When you're 13, 14, you just go along with what the other people are doing. You just want to fit in. You want to make sure that your friends like you. So yeah, you're going to crack jokes, you're going to laugh along with it. And when you're a teenager, you're not really thinking, 'Oh, I'm being a bully by laughing along with it.' You think 'Okay, a bully's just someone [who] can physically go and harm someone for being short, for being black, white, whatever. But you're also a bully by condoning the behavior and making the jokes along with them."

We're with the public figures who are speaking out to put an end to gay bullying and inequality. Hit the blue links for more.

Read: Tim Gunn Attempted Suicide Over His Sexuality