Commencement speeches are always kind of the same. There's talk of seizing the day, the future, probably a few dictionary definitions of words like "commencement" and "graduation."

One Colorado student's speech, however, differed a bit from the norm: He planned to come out to all of his classmates and their families as they assembled in caps and gowns, and for that reason -- and others -- he was not allowed to speak at his graduation.

On his graduation day, valedictorian Evan Young planned to give a speech about secrets to the assemblage at Twin Peaks Charter Academy in Boulder, Colorado, according to the the Boulder Daily Camera.

"One of my themes is that I was going to tell everyone my secrets," Young told the publication. "Most of the things were stupid stuff -- books I never read that I was supposed to, or homework I didn't like. But then I gradually worked up to serious secrets."

"My main theme is that you're supposed to be respectful of people, even if you don't agree with them. I figured my gayness would be a very good way to address that," he added.

The 18-year-old, who is heading to Rutgers University, ran into some opposition from the school with regard to the speech, and, after volleying edits back and forth with Principal BJ Buchmann, was not allowed to speak at graduation because he refused to edits including mention of his sexuality.

The initial draft of the speech was “was condescending toward the school and the student’s peers and including, among other things, ridiculing comments about faculty and students. The draft speech also included references to personal matters of a sexual nature," reads a statement from the school following the May 16 graduation at which Young was not allowed to speak.

The ceremony was meant to be "a time for family and those closest to the students to celebrate success and express mutual wishes of gratitude and respect," school attorney Barry Arrington said in the statement. "It is not a time for a student to use his commencement speech to push his personal agenda on a captive audience, and school officials are well within their rights to prevent that from happening."

The statement also cited the 1988 ruling by Supreme Court in favor of Hazelwood School District, a case that dealt with reduced freedom of speech at student papers, and pointed out that Young additionally broke the rules by removing the sleeves of his graduation gown.

The experience was apparently a harrowing one for Young, who, in the process, was outed to his parents by the school. "Mr. Buchmann called me and said, 'I've got Evan's speech here. There's two things in it that I don't think are appropriate,'" the student's father, Don Young, said. "One was he had mentioned another student's name. And then there was his coming out that he was gay."

"My parents are very liberal. I think they were totally OK with it," Evan said. "But I was not OK with it.

"I think what it mainly showed is that [Buchmann] didn't have a lot of sympathy for me, or someone in my position. He didn't understand how personal a thing it was, and that I wasn't just going to share it with people randomly, for no reason. I thought it was very inconsiderate for him to do something like that, especially without asking me first," he added.

Evan's parents didn't wholly disagree with the decision to pull his speech -- wondering if a high school graduation was the appropriate venue to come out -- but they were distressed that he wasn't recognized after all of his hard work at his commencement.

However, it looks like the student will, indeed, have the chance to give his speech. Local LGBT center, Out Boulder, caught wind of the incident and will let him say his piece at a private event.