In a new interview with Out, actor Matt Bomer talks about coming out to his conservative parents.

Bomer (White Collar, American Horror Story), 39, is raising three children with his husband, Hollywood publicist Simon Halls.

Bomer, who grew up in a suburb of Houston, said that he views his life as divided between the time before he told his parents, and the time after.

While performing at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Bomer came out to his parents in a letter.

“I would have lost my sense of direction if I tried to do it in person,” Bomer said, adding that there was “radio silence for … at least six months” from his parents.

“And then I came home and we had the blowup that I'd always feared. But we got that out of the way, and we got down to the business of figuring out how to love each other.”

Bomer said that he “struggled” with his family for years, ignoring the advice of many people who told him to cut them out of his life.

“It was a struggle. It's a struggle for anybody to take their paradigms and set of beliefs and understandings and completely flip the script. So I'm empathetic toward everyone,” he said.

“I'm here to tell people it can get better,” Bomer added.