Local man writes second letter to Pres. Obama about being gay in the U.S.

A North Texas man disgusted by the Orlando massacre is turning to the power of the written word.

Last month, Nick Napoli met President Barack Obama after sending him a heart-felt letter about the positive strides being made for gay Americans. Now, he says he feels compelled to write again.

The 22-year-old writer is openly gay and he and his boyfriend live in North Texas. He says life is good, but it wasn't always that way.

"I would have kids follow me home and taunt me,” the writer said.

Napoli says middle school was even worse.

"I even had a mother drive by one time in her minivan as her son yelled a gay slur,” he said.

Things got better in high school. And when the U.S. Supreme Court passed marriage equality, Napoli says he felt compelled to write to the commander-in-chief.

"I wanted to thank President Obama for everything he's done over the last eight years regarding the LGBT community,” Napoli said.

In the letter he wrote in March, Napoli talked about how he was "literally tortured, harassed, and bullied for being gay." He disclosed being “diagnosed with HIV" and how the Affordable Care Act saved his life.

"Without the ACA, the meds I'm on would cost me about $4,000 per month,” he explained.

Napoli emailed his letter to the White House. A month later, he got a call from the president's press office, inviting him to attend a state dinner in May and meet the president.

Napoli says during his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he got to spend about five minutes with the president and first lady. He snapped several photographs of his trip to D.C.

Napoli returned to Texas with a sense of hope for the future. Then, the Orlando massacre happened and his hope diminished.

“I wept,” said Napoli. “There's only so much that can happen before we reach a tipping point and this has got to be that tipping point.”

So Napoli felt compelled to write to the president for a second time.

"If he doesn't hear the cries of thousands of Americans, hopefully he'll hear my cry again,” he said.

This time, the letter has a darker and more somber tone.  Napoli says he means no disrespect to the president, but also believes he owes it to himself and the rest of the LGBT community to express his anger with the current state of the nation.

"I must withdraw my earlier statements because I no longer live with that hope,” Napoli wrote. “Instead, I live in fear. I now have to watch my back and hold my keys as a weapon. I have to worry if I hold my boyfriend's hand, it will enrage someone enough to attack.

Napoli is still tweaking the letter. He plans on emailing it to the White House by the end of the week. He also plans to publish it on the website HIV Equal.

FOX 4 contacted the White House Press Office to try and get some reaction to the second letter but have not yet heard back.