OlderMark Cornelsen: T.R. Knight’s New Boyfriend
Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight and boyfriend Mark Cornelsen hold hands during the 2008 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood on Sunday.
Cornelsen was the 2007 Matthew Shepard Point Scholar. Watch the video below of Mark talking about how his story affected his generation or read his story below!
“Mark grew up in a small town close to the Canadian border called Ferndale, Washington. Brought up in an extremely conservative, religious household, Mark received a very negative reception when he came out. His family’s religious views left absolutely no room for understanding or acceptance; there would be no compromise. Mark was ostracized from their lives, and he was left to lead a life of independence at the age of sixteen.
Donating back to his community and excelling academically were always top priorities while in high school. Mark graduated from high school a year early by attending college courses, and he is currently working multiple jobs to help fund his education. He is involved with the ONE campaign to provide AIDS and poverty education globally and is establishing a local chapter. He is eager to become more involved with GLSEN and many GLBT organizations within the Bay Area in the coming months.
Mark is attending San Francisco State University in the fall of 2007 where he will earn a degree in Resort/Commercial Recreation Management with a minor in International Business. He aspires to be the director of an international luxury resort.”
Mark Cornelsen: T.R. Knight’s New Boyfriend
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the thing is: wether it’s normal or not it’s something people can not change about themselves. I just think that there’s no need to make them feel extra bad about that with mean comments or whatever.
Some people are saying it’s normal…I say so what.
I personally rather see a gay man who is open and admits it.
One of my greatest fears is to marry a man who tries to hide his true sexuality. It happened to my friend’s mother, and when she finally found out he was gay she was heartbroken…that’s just not cool.
So if you’re gay, say it loud and say it proud…and don’t marry a woman (unless she already knows and don’t care).
skankyHO @ 02/25/2008 at 10:11 pm He has a wonk eye like Paris.
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Other than how young he looks compared to T.R., that’s the first thing i notice, too.
TOTAL WONK EYE.
And no offence, but as cute as he is why is he with T.R.’s annoying ass? It has to be for the money and recognition. How can he deal with T.R.’s hag Katherine H. ? I bet she sits and watches them have sex, praying T.R. will invite her to join in.
Acceptance of all is what we should strive for. Seems like a nice young couple. Discrimination comes in all shapes and sizes and colors, too. Good luck to him.
Mark is way cute, and the haters can get educated.
I met the both of them about a month ago at a fundraiser…both of them were super sweet and friendly
Um, Lenny, as long as you like internet gossip, you’d better get used to the gays.
I went to middle school and high school with mark. We both were on newspaper together. He’s such a nice guy.. Him and T R Knight are ADORABLE together. So happy for him!!!!
Totally adorable! Love T.R. !
I have grown up with the Cornelsen family, and our parents have been life long friends. Granted, at first I know it was hard for them to accept Mark’s lifestyle, they have in NO WAY disowned him. Not only did they give him money when he needed it, they reached out to him ALL THE TIME. So all this crap about him not getting any support whatsoever from his family is bullshit. They made multiple attempts to repair their relationship which he rejected. I know that it has been hard on their entire family, no parent wants to lose a child and his parents are no exception. Believe me or not I don’t care, I just don’t think that it’s right for the truth to not be told.
This kid used to make my coffee at Mug Shots every day! I had wondered where he went off to. Between Mark and Jake Locker, our little town is crankin out the pseudo-celebrities!
Agree with Agreed and Lenny. Mark was super sweet and nice though.
if boy on boy isnt your thing why be so concerned? Live and let live. Its not your place to judge when the world is FULL if quesionable behavior that many of us say is “normal”.If its not your cup of tea..just remember u dont own the world, only yourself so let others find their own happiness.If its a sin…that btwn them and God. last time I checked HE hasnt returned yet and he sure didnt send you in his place! Magazines catch images of real life and the reality is GAY people date and do all the same things hetero people do so sticking your head in the sand wont make it go away.if you only want to see straight celebrities failing in and out of love, making a mockery of marriage, having children out of wedlock and going in and out of rehab (REAL “NORMAL” RIGHT??) …then you are in the wrong galaxy buddy!
Mark’s hometown is ten mins away from mine, so I admire him for the things that he has worked to accomplish in his young life. If this is truely love and they are both adults then age should not be what is looked at.. What should be looked at is why do “we” think that when two people love eachother we are to dictate if they really love one another?
go mark and t.r.
ferndale-1, lynden-0.
dang go mark…hahaha…i used to go to school with him hes a cool guy
I totally went to school with Mark. I’m from Ferndale! woot woot.
Julia… are you serious?? I was wondering about that! Mark seems like a nice kid and all, and I starrted a facebook page in his honor, but I was wondering how much of this whole situation was exaggerated. He is really a cute kid, but it does seem odd that communications have been severed. I am considerably older than he is… more TR’s age, and when I saw this and found that he was affiliated with the MAtthew Shepard Foundation I could not help but to respond. Many people say that the age difference is an “eye brow raise” and although I am typically openminded about situations as these, I am questioning the motives here.
Although I am not willing to reveal my identity as of yet, I will say that I have had some trouble recently (within a month or so) from a facebook liser who was claiming to be TR Knight. There were ALOT of people who believed it was really him… myself included… and a red flag went up in my mind when the impostor FINALLY reveal himself as a teen aged kid who was “supposedly from England.” On reflection, there was a comment posted on this facebook listing “after I caught him” that stated: “Hi, my name is Mark, and I am running TR Knight’s fan page”! THAT was a slip up!— because this kid FIRST told me that his name was Jake! And I have the listing saved to prove it! Could this have been Mark Cornelsen?
Alot of us are wondering because along with that, he knew very intimate details that only someone who really knew TR would know… Furthermore, just AFTER I had written to the REAL Mark Cornelsen just DAYS ago, a mysterious and coincidental comment came in response to a YOUtube posting I had made in regard to one of TR’s videos where I’d been mentioning the TR impostor. They wanted to know if I caught the impostor, what happened, and BEGGED me to tell them who it was… Well, when I looked to see where and who was listing the question it gave a feke name of course, by the name of “Igor”, and the age was listed as 19!! Too many coincidences, I think!
Well, friends and myself have been discussing this situation, and if it indeed is/was Mark who was the Impostor, it was a pretty ****** and UNCLASSY thing to do.. And as far as TR Knight… we all used to like him very much… VERY MUCH, but after following his track record, we are wondering about his intentions with this boy as well… he seems to follow the limelight around… and it is beginning to show..
Just wanted to offer comment.
I am so proud of Marky!!!! Dont for get the Birch Bay days workin at the restaurant!!! you were my bestest and most favoritest assistant!! (ok ok host and runner but you know)
PS to the person who listed
Ferndale 1 Lynden 0 — that is funny!
Mark; it’s coach Sue (red lions soccer). I have been worried @ you. It seems that you are happy…finally. I can not imagine your parents “logic” They, obviously, have none. You were always a terrific kid. I would be proud to call you my son. Your brother is an entirely different matter. How supposedly “educated” people can condone arrogance and rudeness and toss a sweet, kind person out of the house is beyond me. I hope you are really ok. I feel sorry that your narrow minded parents don’t appreciate you for the kind hearted, fun,sweet, handsome REAL person that you are. Take good care sweetie. e-mail me if h’wood time permits. Alex & Ian say hi too. xo
ok, ok… all this going on about Mark… The truth of the matter is that he is/was a nice kid. Really he was. The point is here that Mark’s parents did not turn their backs on him. This is what he wants everyone to believe, and it just isn’t so. The Cornelsens have always been a role-model family who doted on Mark ever since the day he was born. He was a pleasant, sweet kid, but spoiled rotten to the core most of the time, and has over the years, developed an ornate way of utilizing his situation to gain the sympathy from outsiders.
Mark’s family did not “condone” his orientation, however accepted it anyway because he was their son. This is as any parent would do. They have offered him asistance anytime he needed it and he was not tossed out by his family– he left of his own accord, and made no attempts to either explain or communicate with his family as a result. There are two sides to every story, and some of us are getting sick and tired of the bullshit that this kid is cramming down everyone’s throats with his false claims of the adverse.
The truth? Mark has turned into a kid that I no longer wish to know, and have lived to regret knowing because of the lies he has told. Sure, he thinks he’s at the top of his game now with TR Knight, but the truth is that man will never be bold enough to marry him– if that’s what MArk is hoping for, and soon enough his “Sugar Daddy” will get the hint that he is no better than a young scheming punk kid who is only out for his own personal gain and profit.
Like any other Hollywood romance, this one will crash and burn and then sure enough in 5 or 10 years, Mark will be crawling back to the roots he tossed out the window.
There’s your truth.
what?! I don’t believe it! How do you spell E-S-C-O-R-T? And I’m not talking about the compact Ford, either!
It is interesting to hear people and their thoughts. Just a thank you to the people who really know his family. We love him and we will always love him. He is welcome at home and always has been. We miss him very much.
It is interesting to hear people and their thoughts. Just a thank you to the people who really know his family. We love him and we will always love him. He is welcome at home and always has been. We miss him very much.
You are very welcome Mrs. Cornelsen. I felt it was only fair to voice the truth in this situation. What alot of people don’t realize is that family ALWAYS cares… it may not always seem that way to the affected party at first— like Mark, but the standing fact is that there is merit in the saying “blood is thicker than water”.
It is initially a hard pill for a parent to swallow; afterall, no parent want to see their child leading a life full of ridicule and scorn by the general public. I do realize that the opinions of the world are beginning to change, as you do, Mrs. Cornelsen, and I believe that you– as his parent, only wished the best for him and wanted him to live a happy life.
Like you, I only hope that he understands that there are two sides to every situation, including this one, and I felt that it was important for your family to be given the benefit of the doubt and a chance to voice your opinions and feelings as well.
I know you love him… and deep doen inside, I think he loves you too… and someday, I hope he realizes that he only gets ONE set of parents in this world. It’s too late when one or both of them are dead and gne to say all the things one wishes they would have when they were living.
Don’t I know it… and I just wish I still had the chance he is missing out on now….
The best to you and your family, and try to have a nice holiday.
Bless you.
I’ve been watching the messages of this post for quite awhile now. And you know, the time has come for me to say a few things about the situation. I’m 39, and like Mark, I also am gay. Even more than that is the fact that I know exactly the kind of situation he is up against with his family. It happened to me. It was 1987, and the times were different. The world was prejudice about gays then— even moreso than now, and it was holding on the the old belief that we were sick individuals who had made a concious choice to be this way. This isn’t the truth. And it isn’t a choice, but a life… not a lifestyle, we are put into from the day we are concieved. We are not “made” individuals, but are people of a predestined situation of which we did not ask for or of which we had a choice. Our lives are not multiple choice selections of sexual orientation, in the same way that we can’t choose our fates at our lives ends. This is a choice and a selection that was, in fact, chosen for us by a supreme power beyond that of ourselves or mankind. People of religion call us an abomination; society calls us sinners. And through it all, we strive to be kind to everyone– do the right things, help others in need– all the while never asking for than more than acceptance in return. All men are created equal– so a great American doocument once read, and the Bible teaches all of us that God created us in HIS own image. It’s that image that people like Mark and me are trying to measure up to. If HE indeed created us in HIS own image, and “lying” is a sin, then trying to be something that we were never intended to be would be a lie— a defiance to HIM and HIS plan for us. Another situation is a parent’s unconditional love for a child. Believe it or not, I can see both sides. I understand that this has been a difficult situation for Mark’s parents— it was for mine. Visions of carrying on the family Crest, bloodline, and grandchildren, cloud the present view a parent should have in regards to the well-being and happiness of their own children, at times. This is not a “survival-of- the- fittess” of carrying on generations of a family’s legacy or last name, or should it be a consideration factor when regarding family status in a community. The strengths of a family are measured in how well they are bonded to one another by love and loyalty– not by guidlines determined by society or belief. True love of a parent comes form accepting everything about their child— and editing out the dislikes they may have is not an option on a check-off list of “accessory items”. Society plays the biggest role in all of our lives, and many times, has taught us the bigotry that has become inbred in each of us for any given situation where bias can be present. It’s up to us now—a new generation of thinkers, to individualize our beliefs, and seperate our taught prejudices from the rights all of us have in society to be just that— individuals. in fact, it’s not just a right, it’s a plan… a plan that has been mapped out for each of us by that stonger power I mentioned earlier. If we truly want the world to be a better place, and we want to follow the example so many people of religion claim is the “right” path, then we need to reevaluate ourselves in society and let the “plan” run it’s natural course as HE intended. The road is alot less bumpy for everyone when “HE” is the only one holding the steering wheel, you know?
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