‘Pretty Little Liars’ Star Tyler Blackburn Comes Out Bisexual
The star of Pretty Little Liars and Roswell, New Mexico, Tyler Blackburn, has come out in an exclusive interview with The Advocate magazine.
The young actor, and winner of two Teen Choice Awards, has a large teenage fanbase. Over the years, he’s gained a tremendous platform and now he’s using his voice to encourage others to “be free.”
“I’m queer,” he told The Advocate. “I’ve identified as bisexual since a teenager. I just want to feel powerful in my own skin, and my own mind, and in my own heart.”
Tyler also shared tidbits of his life, including what he called “the dark years,” when he was bullied for being more effeminate than other boys.
“I got bullied a lot by other boys, and I just felt like my soul was slowly being taken from me,” he reflects. “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.”
Tyler added, “My goal above everything is to feel as happy as possible. As free as possible. I don’t just mean happy, like, ‘I’m laughing all day, every day.’ That’s actually insane. That’s impossible. What I mean is, I want to feel free.”
Read more at The Advocate.