The lecture attracted a five-college audience eager to hear about Roberts' experience as one of few openly gay men on national television.
"My typical audience is 95 percent women," Roberts said, whose blonde shaggy hair, striking eyes and charming smile make it easy to see why.
Throughout the night, however, this self proclaimed "Discovery Channel nerd" proved that he was more than a gay reality television personality. As he told his story about being gay in a small southern town, the impact of the "Real World" on his life and his mysterious in-the-army boyfriend Paul, the gravity of his story impacted all audience members.
He was direct from the beginning. "We're going to talk about sexuality tonight, ok?" he began. "I woke up one morning and was like, oh my God, I'm gay," he continued. It is easy for him to share this now, but at one time it was not so simple.
Despite some experimentation in college, Roberts thought that his homosexual feelings would pass. "I always thought the minute college ended the phase would end," he said. "I would have a white picket fence with 2.5 children in a house in the suburbs … It was a lie. I was walking on eggshells."
Roberts attributes his honesty about his homosexuality to his interaction with two men. These men, though both homosexual, were married to partners of the opposite sex. According to Roberts, their desperate unhappiness was quite obvious. "I was in that same prison," Roberts said. This finally led him to the conclusion that when a person has homosexual feelings, they won't just disappear. "It's not a phase, damnit," Roberts said.
After that realization, Roberts officially declared his homosexuality. "For Christmas I gave my parents a little coming out story," he said. Open acceptance may have been an ambitious hope for someone from a small southern town, but after a year of rocky communication Roberts' parents finally embraced their son's sexuality.
"I think my mom always knew," he said. "Moms always have a built-in gay-dar."
After college, Roberts fell into fame quite accidentally by auditioning for MTV's "Real World." When he auditioned, he had no idea what the future might bring, but after being selected to be in the New Orleans cast, he faced a new set of problems.
"I didn't want to be the token gay guy," Roberts said. "I do not wake up and have a bowl of gay-Wheaties. Gays are fully dimensional people."
Despite his misgivings, however, Roberts, along with his boyfriend Paul, became one of the most high-profile gay couples in America, and Roberts became the "gay character" in the cast.
Roberts has no regrets about his time on the show, or the manner in which MTV portrayed him. "Nobody on the show is what you saw," he said. "They are all so much more."
Roberts said he was surprised by the media attention that followed his appearance on "Real World." He appeared on the cover of The Advocate, a magazine dedicated to the gay and lesbian community. He hosts a website to address gay and lesbian issues, and he tours colleges around the nation sharing his story.
"I wish I could go back three years and know what I know now about the media," Roberts said. "I feel like I got sucked up by a tornado."
However, Roberts has successfully used the attention to his advantage. He acts as a spokesperson for the gay and lesbian community promoting national debate around homosexual issues and he hopes to continue to do so in the future. "Media attention is great. It's the quickest way to reach out to a lot of people," said Roberts.
"The gay issue is still very taboo," he said. However, he still praised the progress our society has made so far. "Ten years ago, if media covered a gay parade, they showed every freak they could find," he said. "Just in the past few years that all has changed."
The majority of students responded to Roberts with great enthusiasm. Kate Stayman-London '05, a member of the Pride Alliance, praised Roberts' speech for adding to already high levels of debate around gay issues. "[It showed] us how important these issues are," she said.
Other students, however, were not as satisfied and claimed to have gotten less than they expected from the main speaker of Coming Out Week.
Although she enjoyed the lecture, Annie Macrae '04 had some criticisms. "I think someone in the public eye like Danny really has the potential to create an interesting dialogue on issues concerning sexuality. A wide variety of students were really interested and excited for his speech," said Macrae. "However, I was disappointed that he didn't go into more depth on some of the issues facing gays today such as coming out, equal rights, homophobia and gays in the military."
Her complaint may be warranted. Roberts' story did not seem representative of the challenges many gay people say they face. "He just came out, and eventually his parents and friends all accepted it," Macrae said.
Amanda Richardson '06 shared a similar sentiment. "I went because I have seen every episode of 'The Real World New Orleans,'" she said. "It was good for what it was. I wasn't expecting very much."
"I feel like some of the questions asked could have been addressed to someone more knowledgeable about gay issues." Richardson said. "I think people were pressing him to say things slightly more intellectual than he was prepared for."
Roberts will continue to tour colleges nationwide before returning home to Seattle, Wash. for the summer. He is not entirely sure what will come next.
"I never figured out exactly what I want to do when I grow up, and I still don't know," he said. Whether he ends up as a high profile celebrity or simply raising a family, Roberts promises one thing: "I'm not done yet."
Pem Brown '06, a member of the Pride Alliance executive board, was pleased with the lecture. "Danny drew a sizable crowd to Johnson Chapel-one which probably doesn't think about LGBTQA issues too frequently," he said. "Our hope is that coming away from Danny's talk, some of those people learned more about the issues facing the gay community and ways in which they can make Amherst a safer and more accepting place for people of all sexual orientations."