Tyler Blackburn, the handsome bloke best known for playing Caleb Rivers on deeply insane teen drama Pretty Little Liars, has revealed in an interview that he’s bisexual.
In a conversation with queer publication The Advocate, Blackburn said:
I’m queer. I’ve identified as bisexual since a teenager.
He also said that he was bullied by other boys when he was growing up because of his sexuality.
I just felt like my soul was slowly being taken from me. I ended up eating lunch in my biology classroom in 10th grade, and I had no one to talk to. You form a shell around yourself for protection. And you start to make decisions based off of things outside of what you want and who you are. I stopped doing so many of the things that I loved doing because it felt safer. That right there is the outcome of oppression. When you literally have to mute who you are in order to feel safe. That’s soul-crushing.
[jwplayer t3015h2z]
Blackburn opened up about how long he’d dodged questions from the media about his sexuality, and his desire to more authentically live his life as a queer man. He also explained that some of the pressure he felt about keeping his bisexuality a secret came from within the queer community itself.
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.
The conversation comes during Blackburn’s press tour promoting his new show, Roswell, New Mexico, in which he plays a gay war veteran, Sgt. Alex Manes – a character he says he understands inside and out.
I understood feeling oppressed. I understood having issues with my father, [wanting to feel] accepted by him. I understood wanting something but being afraid to have it. I understood self-doubt.
Now, it seems that the actor is entering a new phase of his life, one in which his goal “above everything is to feel as happy as possible.“
I don’t just mean happy, like, ‘I’m laughing all day, every day.’ That’s impossible. What I mean is, I want to feel free.
Fans have been overwhelmingly supportive of Blackburn’s coming out.
tyler blackburn coming out as bi is soo good we stan legends only
— jay (@jacnaylors) April 19, 2019
closeted LGBTQ actors feeling the confidence to come out after playing roles in media that GIVE them that confidence….! keiynan lonsdale, tyler blackburn, and im sure countless others. THATS the importance of representation baby!
— isabeau (@shkag0) April 19, 2019
tyler blackburn is a bisexual icon.
i’m so fucking proud of him oh my god, you go sweetie!! https://t.co/A8QNJDy2WY— head empty no thoughts (@Adrii_Nagy) April 19, 2019
