LYNN – Telling those in attendance that he has always been proud of who he is and stressing the importance of being open with his sexuality, former Channel 7 news anchor Randy Price highlighted North Shore Community College’s 23rd Tolerance Forum Thursday afternoon.America’s first openly gay newscaster, Price was a respected fixture on the Boston news scene for decades, the last 11 years of which he spent as anchor of Boston’s NBC affiliate WHDH before resigning earlier this year.Reminiscing on his 30-plus year relationship with husband Mark Steffen and sharing his story coming up through the news ranks as a gay man weary of making his life choice public, Price encouraged all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexuals in the audience to embrace who they are and live life their own way.”I always insisted that they put that (I was gay) in my profile,” said Price. “There are a lot of people out there who need an example, who need to know who you are and what you do for their own confidence.”North Shore Community College has been hosting its tolerance forum for the better part of two decades, tackling hot-button social issues from the Darfur and Armenian genocides to race relations and disease awareness.By focusing attention on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual community, the college hopes to increase tolerance of those with different sexual orientations and erase some of the myths and negative stigma that tends to come with the word “gay.”Along with Price, the college welcomed several other speakers including same sex marriage pioneer David Wilson and GLBT advocate Arline Isaacson and filled the gym with informative displays by students and faculty.A Louisiana native, Price worked as a broadcaster in California, Ohio and even the U.S. Air Force before settling in at WBZ in Boston in the early 1980s. Out of the closet and already in a relationship with Steffen when he came to the station, Price said he was weary to reveal his sexuality to his producers and viewers at first because it was such a taboo subject at the time.It wasn’t until he granted an interview to a gay magazine that his story became public knowledge as local and national newspapers quickly picked up the story.Once his lifestyle was public knowledge, Price said that is when he truly felt like he was being honest with himself and his viewers.”I have always felt that it is so important to be visible for who you are,” he said. “You will never have the kind of life you are destined to have if you are not honest with who you are. I had to be honest in my personal life if I was going to be honest as a journalist.”Price credited Massachusetts with being the most progressive and tolerant place he has ever lived and says settling down in the state has truly allowed him to pursue the life that he wants to lead.Price held a lengthy question and answer session with the members of the audience following his keynote speech, again encouraging all homosexuals to be honest with themselves and others and to pursue the things in life that make them happy.”When you are out and you establish ‘OK, this is who I am, it’s not a lifestyle, I was born this way’ you will have a much healthier relationship with people,” he said. “There is always going to be a little bit of fear about what the public reaction is going to be and that is why I am so thankful to be living here. There is nothing like living in this part of the country with all of the progressive thinking that goes on.”