I think someone's sexual orientation is great fodder for gossip. But again, it's non-news to me or anyone who knows me.

I did one interview with the Atlantic. It was very interesting; I could write an entire book on that one experience. I've never had any type of public persona outside of the face recognition I have with this job, so I was really ill prepared to have this conversation. I think the real story was that it became a source for a flurry of other derivative stories. I remember the Post headline said "Marcarelli's Bizarre Life," which to me is code for gay, primarily.

Accusations against gay schoolteachers figure really prominently in liberal news headlines, because they're attention-grabbing and ratings-getting. They last a news cycle and go away and then you never hear about them again.

I've never been able to write for myself. I was doing a lot. I produced The Green, I wrote it - I didn't see myself in the world of this film. I'm sure there are elements of dark corners of my psyche that found their ways on screen; you didn't need my mug up there. There was enough of my essence in the story as it plays out without me acting in it.

Whenever you create something that has a gay theme, it's inherently political. It's important that the intentions of the people behind the project be known. In discussing my sexual orientation, I found it to be germane to the topic of the film. It's what made The Green relatable and personal to me, but I've been out since I was 19. I've never been in the closet, so to say.

I feel very grateful. I wasn't raised with money. My parents were schoolteachers; I was raised on a small farm. It never dawned on me that I would have a job that someone would pay me to do. Much less a job like this. It would be ridiculous if I had any complaints about it. And look - I've had the opportunity to learn an entirely new set of skills, and I'm bringing them to the work I'm doing now in filmmaking.

I just try to bring a kind of consciousness to the work I'm doing. I'll worry about the next job when I have the next job. There are a lot worse things than being known for a certain kind of specificity. You'll get calls for that thing. And that's better than not getting any calls at all.