Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley Billionaire, Makes History At RNC: ‘I’m Proud To Be Gay’ [Full Video]

Peter Thiel, an openly gay Silicon Valley billionaire, made history while addressing the audience at the Republican National Convention.

Peter Thiel RNC Speech

Thiel introduced himself on the RNC stage by drawing parallels between the “building” he does in the tech sector and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s literal building and figurative rebuilding of the country.

“I’m Peter Thiel. I build companies and I’m supporting people who are building new things, from social networks to rocket ships,” Thiel said. “I’m not a politician. But neither is Donald Trump. He is a builder, and it’s time to rebuild America.”

Later on in his speech, Thiel became the first speaker at a Republican National Convention to declare that he is a part of the LGBTQ community.

“I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But most of all I am proud to be an American,” Theil said, adding, “I don’t pretend to agree with every plank in our party’s platform; but fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline, and nobody in this race is being honest about it except Donald Trump.”

In Silicon Valley, Thiel has made a name for himself as a successful venture capitalist. He was the first outside investor in Facebook and went on to be a co-founder of PayPal. Thiel’s support of Trump in the 2016 presidential election makes him something of an outsider in the West Coast’s tech hub. Earlier this month, more than 150 tech executives signed an open letter to the candidate that was highly critical of the divisive campaign that he’s been running.

While Thiel is vocally supportive of Trump and encouraged voters to cast their ballot for him in November, he has not and does not intend to donate to his campaign or to a super PAC raising money for him. Before endorsing Trump, he had backed former Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, for whom he had donated $2 million to a super PAC.

Thiel recently made headlines outside of tech and politics – in the courtroom. It came to light earlier this summer that it was Thiel who had bankrolled Hulk Hogan‘s successful lawsuit against Gawker Media, supplying about $10 million, all told. Thiel was partially motivated in the show of generosity because of Gawker’s outing of him back in 2007.