Over the holiday weekend, popular Facebook page Humans Of New York posted a heartbreaking image of a sad looking young boy alongside his quote, "I'm homosexual and I'm afraid about what my future will be and that people won't like me." The powerful photo, which received more than 600,000 likes and was shared almost 60,000 times, resonated with many on the social media platform, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, both of whom sent words of encouragement to the fearful young man.

Clinton, commenting on the photo, said that she suspects the boy's life will be a good one:

"Prediction from a grown-up: Your future is going to be amazing. You will surprise yourself with what you're capable of and the incredible things you go on to do. Find the people who love and believe in you - there will be lots of them. –H"

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DeGeneres, who came out as a lesbian in the 1990s, offered even more kindness: "Not only will people like you, they'll love you. I just heard of you and I love you already."

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Another inspiring message came from user Jose Daniel Castillo, whose comment garnered more than 10,000 likes:

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Brandon Stanton created Humans of New York five years ago to "create a photographic census of New York City. Armed with his camera, he began crisscrossing the city, covering thousands of miles on foot, all in an attempt to capture New Yorkers and their stories. The result of these efforts was a vibrant blog he called 'Humans of New York,' in which his photos were featured alongside quotes and anecdotes."

After Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide in 2010 after his roommate threatened to broadcast his sexual activity with another man online, DeGeneres publicly addressed the tragedy on her show:

"I am devastated over the death of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi," she said at the time. "He was outed as being gay on the Internet and he killed himself ... One life lost in this senseless way is tragic."

Discussing Clementi's death and three other deaths of gay teens that month, DeGeneres said, "This needs to be a wake up call to everyone that teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing. We have an obligation to change this."