Australian actor-singer Keiynan
Lonsdale talks coming out in a Gay Times cover story.
Lonsdale, 26, who came out bisexual in
an emotional Instagram post last year, plays Abraham “Bram”
Greenfeld in the gay teen romantic comedy Love, Simon. He's
said that he was inspired to come out while filming the movie.
(Related: Keiynan
Lonsdale says he decided to come out while filming Love,
Simon.)
In his Gay Times cover
interview, Lonsdale says he identifies as queer.
“I suppose if anything, I would
identify as queer – that feels the most accurate,” Lonsdale
said. “My sexuality used to be all I could think about, and
now it barely crosses my mind, which is cool. I think in the future
we will get to a place where we are just human and there are no made
up rules for how or who we should love, but for now it’s amazing
and crucial to have a community and words that represent the journey
to rainbow freedom.”
Lonsdale described how he decided to
come out.
“I finally accepted myself, but at
the same time I was still wrestling with shame for my sexuality. I
knew I wanted to come out publicly but I was pretty against doing it
online. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. Then one night when
I couldn’t sleep, I opened my phone and it randomly had my notes
app up and within five minutes I had written the post and shared it
to Instagram. It was possibly the coolest decision of my life to
date,” he said.
He added that being out has improved
his career. “It's just easier overall. Ideas and inspiration flow
better, colors are brighter, I make bolder choices, and there's less
time wasted on pretending to be something I'm not,” Lonsdale said.