If you’ve been on TikTok or Instagram in the past few days, you may have picked up on the viral “Blue Monday” trend. It’s basically two people synchronized dancing and mock boxing to a cover of the classic New Order song.
One person who decided to jump on the trend is David Archuleta. He persuaded his mom to join him in a video that touches upon his coming out experience.
Archuleta shot to fame on American Idol in 2008. Raised a devout Mormon, we now know that he struggled for years to embrace his sexuality. He came out in the summer of 2021 and now says he’s most comfortable using the label “queer.”
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In the video, David informs his mom via captions, “I’m gonna date guys”. She responds, “What about our faith?”
“I might leave the church,” responds David, landing a fake blow that looks like it’s carrying some force!
“I love you but I love God more and won’t accept this about you,” responds Mom.
Captions then say they both “Leave church.”
“This is the sparknotes version of me coming out to my mom 😝” Archuleta says in the accompanying caption.
The video has had around 50K likes and prompted thousands of comments in just 24 hours.
Many of those commenting appear to be church-goers irritated that Archuleta continues to speak out about his decision to leave the Mormon church. He made the announcement last year, indicating the church’s atttitude toward his sexuality was a major part of his decision.
“Why do you have to be so vocal about your decision? Just go quietly,” said one commentator.
However, others clapped back against this.
“Members of the church, please stop spreading so much hate,” said another. “We get it, you don’t like he left and is still talking about it. Guess what? It’s part of his story and his life and that’s what we talk about. It also helps hundreds of thousands of others in the same place to not feel alone.
“So if you are a member and you think you want to leave a comment about ‘We get it, you left, stop talking about it.’ Please just for one minute refrain from pushing send. Ask yourself if you truly need to post your comment or if it comes from a place of fear, ego, anger, or something else other than pure kindness and love.”
Paula Abdul
Archuleta participated on The Masked Singer last year and was a guest on the latest season of American Idol last week. He returned to perform his new song, “Hell Together.”
He explained to host Ryan Seacrest the story behind the song, saying, “I grew up very much in my faith and religion, very devout, but I came out of the closet a couple years ago,” he said. “It was very hard to balance faith and coming out. It was too much. So I stepped away.”
He continued, with a smile, saying, “I didn’t hear from my mom for a few days. So I was like, ‘Oh no. I pissed my mom off. Oh no.’ Because she was very devout, too. Then she texted me a few days later and she said, ‘I stepped away from the church as well.’ I was like, ‘What? Oh my gosh.’ She said, ‘I don’t want to be somewhere where my children don’t feel loved and accepted and if you’re going to hell, then we’re all going to hell with you.’”
Watch.
Archuleta was one of the special guests at the most recent Queerties Awards in Hollywood last month, where he performed a tribute to Paula Abdul.
Yesterday, to mark International Dance Day, Archuleta got to realize a dream by dancing with Abdul herself. She said she had wanted to dance alongside him ever since seeing his performance at the Queerties.
Go, David!
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David Archuleta was inspired by Tracy Chapman’s surprise appearance at the Grammys.
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abfab
Adorable.
abfab
Oh how grand! They take adorable!