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Former American Idol contestant David Archuleta gave an interview to Good Morning America yesterday in which he opened up further about his sexuality.
Earlier this month, the Mormon-raised singer, who came second on the seventh season of the show in 2008, publicly came out via an Instagram post. He said then he was uncertain of his sexuality and thought he might be bisexual.
In yesterday’s interview, he said he felt relieved about coming out.
.@GMA EXCLUSIVE: @DavidArchie opens up about his faith, sexuality and coming out journey. @SteveOsunsamihttps://t.co/lgWnwyNb7h pic.twitter.com/J8CwgJInlr
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 23, 2021
“There’s so much relief to not feel like you have to hide a part of yourself, like a secret.”
He said he still struggled to label his sexuality, describing himself as, “some form of being bisexual because I’m still attracted to both, whether I want to or not.”
Related: American Idol’s David Archuleta Leaving Pop Music For Two-Year Mormon Mission
He said he was still saving himself for marriage, had never dated a man, and had made attempts to pray himself straight in the past.
“I still believe in saving myself for marriage … I’ve prayed. I was praying like, ‘God, you can do all things.’ … I would say, ‘Please take these feelings away from me because I don’t want to feel things that I shouldn’t and I don’t want to feel things that would be wrong.’
“That’s been the process. I’ve had to learn how to love myself even when I don’t understand why I am the way I am, but to learn that that’s how God has created me and I have to discover that.
“And there are so many millions of other people who’ve gone through the same thing as me where they try to change who they are.”
Archuleta remains an active member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and recently went on a mission trip to Chile for the church. He said he had felt no rejection from Mormon leaders since coming out.
Related: Gay man born without limbs talks about coming out, finding love and makeup
In his emotional Instagram post from early June, the performer said those close to him had known what he had realized for some time: “I am not sure about my own sexuality.”
He went on to say he had told his family he was gay in 2014, but later had attractions to men and women, so now thought he might be bisexual. He said, “You can be part of the LGBTQIA+ community and still believe in God and His gospel plan.”
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Cam
“”He said he still struggled to label his sexuality, describing himself as, “some form of being bisexual because I’m still attracted to both, whether I want to or not.””
(Whether I want to or Not)
This is the torture that the Mormon Church puts LGBTQ people through. In this case, after being rich and famous for years, in a church where people tend to get married young, like 19 or 20, he is 30 years old, with women throwing themselves at him since he was a teen, but just hasn’t met the “Right woman” yet? If he was actually Bi, and I wish for his sake he was, he likely would be happily married now with a few kids and not have to still be torturing himself.
This is what churches like the LDS, Evangelicals and Catholics want. Us to either stay in the closet, or if not, to be seen as tortured souls who never find anybody.
I hope he gets more comfortable in his skin and finds happiness, and congratulations to him for being brave enough to come out after being raised in that situation!
Donston
There is a pretty good chance that he’s very interested in his sex and perhaps has overall same-sex leanings. But he’s perhaps petrified to fully indulge that. However, your view of identity, sexuality and the orientation spectrum stays incredibly basic. And you pretty much question/dismiss people who express journeys or dimensions that do not align exactly how you view identity, sexuality and the orientation spectrum. (Though I noticed that you have tried being less bitter and presumptuous recently).
Cam
@Donston
The problem here is, you seem to want to make an overall point, when I am talking about one single person.
Archuletta was raised Mormon, a religion where people are pressured to marry early. Many people marry right when they return from their missions around the age of 20. My comment is valid, Archuletta has been rich, famous and had women throwing themselves at him for over a decade. Most bisexuals, or anybody with an attraction to women would have been thrilled at that. But he, not only isn’t, he didn’t date any women, or even express an interest.
It sounds like he is appropriating the Bi label as something his family or PR team thought would be more acceptable. I know bi folks married to their own sex and opposite sex who happily dated both, while Archuletta is miserably dating nobody.
You seem much more interested in getting a little dig in than actually posting about this article or the issue. If I’m wrong, instead of making a vague statement about the overall orientation spectrum, you are more than welcome to point out where my assessment of the situation is wrong.
Donston
The actual problem is that in the past (the very recent past) you’ve shown no understanding of sexuality and just how individual and nuanced “sexuality” can be. You’ve shown no understanding of gender/sexual fluidity and no real understanding the gender, sexual, affection, emotional investment, commitment spectrum. And you’ve assumed that pretty much everyone’s struggles are connected to fear or sociology or religion or ego. That taints whatever other viewpoints you might have. People’s dimensions, psyches, struggles and journeys are frequently more complex/convoluted/individual than that. You’ve got to learn to see people and their circumstance on more individual terms instead of boxing everyone’s struggles and dimensions into a package. And you need to be able to have multiple conversations at once. Not every situation and person fits into your narratives and your agendas. Though clearly, being “queer” and growing up Mormon and being a public figure at a young age is going to affect sense of self, your ego, your life and how your present yourself. Never mind everything else people contend with.
Cam
@Donston
Once again, you seem to be unable or unwilling to talk about the specifics of any particular person or incident and seem far more interested in trying to read me for other comments you didn’t like.
I get that you’ve been to therapy, but that doesn’t make you a therapist. If Archuletta came into an office and you were there to help him, he doesn’t want to hear about vague generalities when he is asking about his own life.
In the same way you refuse to look at the fact that, as a 30 year old famous rich celebrity with women after him constantly, he is 30 and has never dated a woman yet is proclaiming to be attracted to them.
That is a huge signal light. But I get it, you are here to make a different point and perhaps a larger one and therefore will refuse to deal with the fact that this particular case study doesn’t feed into that. I get that you are immersed in this, but that doesn’t mean you should put on a blindfold to avoid dealing with the particulars that don’t support your narrative.
Jim
I hope he finds a good man!
Fahd
There is a typo in the headline – it should read “he used to pray” not “he’s used…”
Chrisk
It’s funny that before I even read about him I already know he’s into some religious cult.
Terrycloth
If he is saving hims lf for marriage then the feelings he has for men or women are crushes..has he kissed a guy or girl yet ? What if he married a guy then he doesn’t like the sex. Or same time with women…then he gets divorced ? Or stays in an unhappy marriage because of religion. I could not consider sex with women .if he is really bi. Then who ever he married should know his truth and expect him to wander
kevininbuffalo
Because he’s bi it doesn’t mean he’ll “wander”. Married people of any orientation can still feel attracted to others but remain faithful to their spouse
Donston
What an odd way of viewing sexuality. Sexuality isn’t just sexual behaviors and sexual enjoyment. It’s sexual attractions, arousals, interests, desires, enjoyment, comfort, fetishes, lifestyle, behaviors you will or won’t indulge, extent of your sex drive, potential experienced fluidity. While the romantic, affection, emotional investment aspects of orientation play a big role in how people live their lives. We really need to get rid of this idea that sexuality is all about behaviors or who you like messing with the most. People, sexualities, psyches, love, commitments, priorities and the things ten at motivate folks are far more individual than that.
However David decides to live his life is his choice, whatever potential mistakes and missteps. He still seems incredibly uncomfortable and self-conscious with his queerness though and when it comes to expressing himself. While being an unabashed “queer” trying to live freely and follow your heart doesn’t really align with being a Mormon. It’s just too messy and conflicting. You would hope that religion, sociology, ego, fear don’t dictate his life and doesn’t make him feel like he needs to go down the path of hetero-normalcy/hetero commitment. You would hope that he chooses to love and commit to who he really wants to love and commit to and emotionally invest in. Though that perhaps may not end up being the case.
Max
is this proof you cannot pray it away? and proof no longer suppressing it is better?
Hdtex
Your “church ” does not love you. Your “church” does not want you. Your “church” will never marry you to another man.
Your “church” is not a “church”. Your “church” is a CULT with a policy of torturing then disowning their LGBTQ youth.
Maybe you just aren’t praying hard enough. ENJOY!
Cam
Things like this always put the Mormon Church into a pickle. They are massive star f*ckers, but they hate LGBTQ people.
So while they’re busy telling parents to kick out queer kids, as soon as Marie Osmond says she supports her daughter they go strangely silent. So they’re going to continue their campaign of hate, but they will ignore Archuletta, with the only change being, they won’t mention him in the literature anymore
Cozmo2
Good for you queen.
Kangol2
I hope he feels more comfortable in himself, whatever label he chooses, but as Cam has pointed out, in this specific case he seems so steeped in Mormon belief and ideology that he appears to be struggling to understand himself and his desires. I do hope he speaks to a therapist who is not a Mormon, and who can help him sort things out. As rich and famous as Archuleta is, he will probably be a bit happier if he can come to terms with the homophobia in that faith and understanding what his inner compass is telling him about a future partner, whatever their gender.
Cam
“I do hope he speaks to a therapist who is not a Mormon,”
You nailed it. I hope so too, the problem is, he’s probably speaking to a church approved therapist, and that isn’t a good situation.
petej
ahh, but would you marry a man if he was the one you came to love? how would your church view you then?
AZ71
Everyone needs to support him for where he is. I 100% understand. I was in the same place he was with religion at his age. His announcement of bisexuality is usually the first step to his acceptance of being gay. Or he truly might be bisexual too. Its a process for all of us and those with ties to religion…its really difficult to come to terms with. He’ll get there. He’s announced it and now he’s a bit more free to explore and then make bigger decisions for himself and next steps.
garybw
Will someone tell him, we all new he was gay
Fahd
In Egypt, the dominant religion is Islam, but there was always a significant minority of Christians many of whom had family wealth. Egypt kept the peace among people for a long time in the last century by having a law that said you could not criticize another person’s religion. That doesn’t apply here. I cannot think of a solution for Mormonism with all it’s stuff about the family being together for eternity the paramount importance of procreation, blah, blah, blah. You can see how these ideas could get into a young child’s mind and inhibit them as an adult, probably worse than Catholicism. I have no solution for these cults; I just steer clear and advise others to do so too. I wish him the best in coming to terms with all this.
sfhairy
Sure Jan, sure!
balttymore
He will never publicly date man…Not as long as he is still part of that church…He will marry a girl and say something along the lines of “I’m attracted to men but not in a sexual way”
ted
Religion is the toxicity to humanity.
Gadfeal
Yet another, unfortunately well-known phenomenon, “good” Christian gay boy behaves himself until, one day, “I’ve had enough, and I’m not going to stand this anymore. I didn’t want to be gay, but I am, and my religion (or any major proselytizing organized cult, or human organization created BEFORE the Age of Reason and science) was WRONG. I am NOT “bad”, just as schizophrenic people were NOT “possessed by the Devil”.
Unfortunately, there is the reverse phenomenon. Young gay men who come out, then, as they age, regress into the closet, and close the door shut in an increasingly dichotomous “I’ve seen the Light.” In popular culture, examples include
* Eduardo Verastegui, the gorgeous Mexican model/actor who was “roommate” to Ricky Martin for a year, but now in his 40’s, is now a born-again Christian who is reserving sex for “marriage”, in a country where 95% of men are married by their mid-20’s.
* Josey Greenwell, the country singer who dated Rodrigo Santiago, a devlishly cute blond, green-eyed lad, who seemingly “turned back time”, and gave into his musical ambitions to return to the closet and rebrand himself as “Nate Green”. His career still didn’t take off; it hadn’t before, not because of his sexuality, but due to there being much more talented, emotinally-sincere artists in competition.
Rayisgay
Was always a fan of this Cutie Pie!
Aromaeus
I’ve always been and always suspected he wasn’t straight. I will echo the sentiments here that his religious upbringing is probably keeping him from embracing his actual gay identity and the bisexual thing is so his family still has hope for him he’s going to end up married to a woman with kids. I hope he gets to live his truth to the fullest whatever that may be.
winemaker
Is this guy kidding or what? According to scripture, man is made in the likeness and image of God and God doesn’t make mistakes. It’s been proven scientifically that sexual orientation is something you’re born with and not a ‘lifestyle choice’, You’re either born straight or gay and the sooner you come to terms with this, the happier and more fulfilling your life will be. Life’s too short not to live your truth, whatever that may be. and really who in their right mind would choose a so called ‘lifestyle’ that opened them to ridicule, discrimination of all sorts and a target to being attacked and beaten up all because they’re gay? Am I missing something here or what? Someone explain this to me and thousands of others. BTW: they’ll love him, actually ‘tolerate’ him as he’s rich and required to ‘tithe’ 10% of his earnings to the church. Wow, hypocricy in action, no surprise here. Yet if he wasn’t wealthy, they’d ignore him and treat him like S**T