The star also hit out at the way bisexuals are treated from both outside and within the LGBTQ community.
Former Pretty Little Liars star Tyler Blackburn has come out as bisexual in an interview with the Advocate, as he spoke about playing a gay character in Roswell, New Mexico.
Talking about growing up, he said: “I got bullied a lot by other boys, and I just felt like my soul was slowly being taken from me.” The bullying got so bad, that Tyler isolated himself and confessed that “self-hatred and shame” overpowered him on numerous occasions.
But proudly speaking about his sexual identity, he said: “I’m queer. I’ve identified as bisexual since a teenager. I just want to feel powerful in my own skin, and my own mind, and in my own heart.”
Tyler went on to speak about how he’d had relationships with women when he was in his 20s, but there had always been an “underlying curiosity” when it came to men.
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Speaking about the bi-erasure that happens from both outside and within the LGBTQ community, Tyler said: “I heard so many things from within the queer community about bisexuality being a cop-out or bullshit or the easy way out or something, and that always stuck with me because I felt the pressure from all sides to have [my sexuality] figured out.
“And I think for the longest time, I suppressed more of my attraction to men.
“It wasn’t until my late 20s, towards the end of Pretty Little Liars, that I really allowed myself to go there and not just wonder about it or lust over it, but experience that vulnerability and experience the emotional aspect of what it is to be bisexual.”
And in an empowering message about how he wants to live his life, he said: “I’m so tired of caring so much. I just want to live my truth and feel OK with experiencing love and experiencing self-love.
“Yes, there is an element of, I want to feel like it’s OK to hold my boyfriend’s hand as I’m walking down the street, and not worry. Is someone going to look and be like, ‘Whoa, is that guy from that show? I didn’t know that [he was queer.]’ I want to own my space now.”
He added: “Now we’re at a place where fluidity is spoken about in such a beautiful way that it doesn’t make me feel as pressured to have it figured out.
“My goal above everything is to feel as happy as possible. As free as possible. I don’t just mean happy, like, ‘I’m laughing all day, every day.’ That’s actually insane. That’s impossible. What I mean is, I want to feel free.”
Related: Here are all the celebrities who’ve come out as LGBTQ in 2019 (so far)
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