Actor Jussie Smollett told gay glossy
Out that he identifies as a gay man but remains open to love
regardless of gender.
Smollett is best known for playing a
young gay musician on the Fox drama Empire.
“I am a gay man with an extremely
open heart,” Smollett
said. “God, I’ve never had to talk about this, so I’m
trying to find the words. If I had to label myself, I would label
myself as a gay man. With that said, I believe that love is the only
thing that matters, and I would hope that anybody would leave
themselves open – not to gender, but to love. I would hope that
people would not close themselves off from what could be if, lo and
behold, you meet somebody that just sweeps you off your feet, and you
just can’t do anything about it. If we truly believe that we are
born this way, then why do we try to stifle the way we were born?”
“If I fall in love down the road with
a woman, I’m going to love that woman.”
The 32-year-old Smollett added that he
feels all sexual orientations are valid.
“But this is a conversation that
deserves to be had, because we don’t all understand each other.
You’re not going to tell me that loving someone is wrong. That does
not mean that heterosexuality is not … very real. It does not mean
that bisexuality is not very real. It does not mean that
homosexuality is not very real. They are all very real. But what I’m
saying is, I am a gay man. I am a gay man. I am a gay man. I don’t
know how many times I have to say that,” he said.