Editing Jim Verraros (section)

== Early life ==
Verraros was born on February 8, 1983, in [[Mount Prospect, Illinois]]. He grew up in nearby [[Crystal Lake, Illinois|Crystal Lake]].<ref name="Queercast">{{cite AV media |url=http://www.windycityqueercast.com/shows_details.html?ID=166 |date=July 27, 2007 |title=WCQ124 Jim Verraros |medium=podcast |access-date=April 29, 2018 |publisher=[[Windy City Times|Windy City Queercast]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://chicago.gopride.com/news/interview.cfm/articleid/113104|author=Jerry Nunn|title=Jim Verraros interview with ChicagoPride.com|work=ChicagoPride.com|date=July 26, 2007|access-date=April 29, 2018|archive-date=June 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620094819/https://chicago.gopride.com/news/interview.cfm/articleid/113104|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Dream Wedding">{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20302879,00.html|author=Ulrica Wihlborg|title=Jim Verraros's Dream Wedding|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=September 7, 2009|access-date=July 27, 2014|archive-date=August 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809165808/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20302879,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His father, Nicholas,<ref name="Dream Wedding"/>{{efn|Verraros has Greek heritage on his father's side.<ref name="Advocate Interview"/>}} and mother, Debbie,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1982/03/19/page/51/article/deaf-and-mute-shes-seated-on-jury|author=Charles Mount|title=Deaf and mute, she's seated on jury|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 19, 1982|access-date=September 14, 2017}}</ref> both lost their hearing after contracting [[German measles]] as infants.<ref name="Punk Globe">{{cite interview|interviewer=Ginger Coyote|subject=Jim Verraros|url=http://www.punkglobe.com/jimverarrosinterview.html|title=Interview with Jim Verraros|type=magazine|work=Punk Globe Magazine|access-date=September 14, 2017}}</ref> Verraros was raised to be fluent in [[American Sign Language]]. The responsibility of interpreting for his parents as a child led him to relate with people older than himself, more than he did with others his own age.<ref name="Punk Globe"/><ref name="Windy City 04">{{cite web|url=http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/An-Idol-for-All-Verraros/4443.html|author=Andrew Davis|title=An 'Idol' for All: Verraros
|work=[[Windy City Times]]|date=March 17, 2004|access-date=September 24, 2014}}</ref> Reflecting on his childhood, Verraros once said, "I had to do things like hold phone conversations and discuss things with doctors and even real estate agents. I had to become well-versed not only with sign language but with people skills as well...I didn't have time for bullshit."<ref name="Windy City 04"/>

{{quote box|width=22%|quote=My facial expressions are sort of huge and over the top, and I think that does come from having to sign. When you use sign language to communicate it's mostly from the shoulders up – and mostly in your face.|source= —Verraros on how growing up with deaf parents influenced his performing style.<ref name="Atlantaboy"/>}}

Around the age of twelve or thirteen, Verraros realized that he is gay. Although he did not come out publicly until after adolescence, his [[sexual orientation]] was apparent to his classmates, who bullied him during middle school. In response, Verraros developed a more masculine appearance. In a 2003 interview, he said of the time, "I changed my image. I wore a lot of baggy jeans, I gained weight, and it was fine for a while."<ref name="Advocate Interview">{{cite news|author=Bruce C. Steele|title=A teen Idol's dreams|work=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]|date=January 21, 2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWUEAAAAMBAJ&q=teen+idol%27s|access-date=January 27, 2014}}</ref> He also sought help from the [[school psychologist]] during those years. High school marked a more significant improvement for him – he became active in [[Drama school|theater]] and went on to attend [[Monmouth College]] on a theater scholarship.<ref name="Advocate Interview"/>

Upon later transferring to [[Columbia College Chicago|Columbia College]], Verraros struggled to find acting opportunities.<ref name="Advocate Interview"/> Insecure about the weight that he had put on, he began doing intensive workouts and became a vegetarian. Over the course of two and a half months, he lost around eighty pounds. Some people thought that he had developed an [[eating disorder]], and Verraros later acknowledged that he most likely did.<ref name="Windy City 04" /><ref name="Advocate Interview" />

Verraros was open about his sexual orientation with classmates at both colleges.<ref name="Windy City 04"/><ref name="Advocate Interview"/> Looking back in 2004, he said that people who had been mean to him in high school were "rooting" for him at Monmouth and that he came out to his mother and sister during this time.<ref name="Windy City 04"/><ref name="Advocate Interview"/> In another interview, he called the environment at Columbia "beyond gay-friendly".<ref name="Advocate Interview"/>