Tyler Blackburn opened up about his sexual orientation for the first time, citing his role on Roswell, New Mexico as one of the factors that influenced him to speak out.
According to a new interview in The Advocate, the 32-year-old star said, “I’m queer. I’ve identified as bisexual since a teenager.” He added that he’s always had an “underlying curiosity” about men. “I got bullied a lot by other boys (growing up), and 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. 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.”
He continued, “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.”
