Glee star Kevin McHale has been teasing us with a series of coy Instagram posts referencing his sexuality and his relationship with fellow actor Austin McKenzie. Now, he’s finally opening up about his sexual orientation. Sort of.
Related: ‘Glee’ actor maybe probably just came out on Instagram
In a series of tweets about Ariana Grande’s new single “No Tears Left To Cry”, which dropped this week, the 29-year-old calls the song “gayer than me”:
give me @ArianaGrande RIGHT NOW
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) April 20, 2018
IM PICKIN IT UP, IM PICKIN IT UP, IM LOVING, IM LIVING, IM PICKIN IT UP
fuck me up ari
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) April 20, 2018
#NoTearsLeftToCry is gayer than me and I ACCEPT. Ty @ArianaGrande.
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) April 20, 2018
He followed that up with another tweet referencing gay icon/music legend Janet Jackson:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
I'd like to request a remix with @JanetJackson. ty for ur time. @ArianaGrande
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) April 20, 2018
Kevin first had everyone talking last month when he maybe probably came out on Instagram by posting a picture of himself holding hands with another guy along with a single emoji as the caption.
The emoji was the ASL hand gesture for “I love you.”
Then last weekend, he had everyone talking again when he posted a picture of himself cuddling up next to a cute guy along with the caption: “My Coachella.”
The mystery man has since been positively identified by multiple media outlets as McKenzie.
Related: Mystery solved: ‘Glee’ star’s boyfriend has been positively identified
ChrisK
Oh no. Must be a slow news day. Gus Kenworthy must have gone into hiding for a while.
rozz01
Do you ever feel like a dick ? Cause you seem like a bitter dick
ChrisK
It’s because. Not cause.
Donston
The dude has a bf who he has no problem showing off, from what I can tell he has never had a gf, and he just referred to that underwhelming song as “gayer than me”. Does he have to hype up an “official identity”, does he have to give full-fledged interviews detailing the dimensions of his orientation or his struggles? He’s living his life freely and without shame or fear. Let’s move on.
DCguy
No he isn’t. He never spoke about any of this or was honest about it while he was in the spotlight. That is the opposit of living freely and without shame. He is putting his toe in the water now, but at nearly 30 is far from out and proud.
Donston
I’m all about people who are high-profile and who actually have something at stake being out, but as I mentioned when you shaded him in the last article, trying to force someone out of the closet in their early 20’s is idiotic and can actually hurt them as well as the general “cause”. You act like the guy is 50. It’s not always about internalized homophobia or being closeted for the sake of your career. Many people are still trying to “figure things out” during that time frame and would prefer to do so without everyone on their ass. Many are still trying build up esteem and self-worth or battles with depression and anxiety or are working through past trauma. I’m not interested in any famous or semi famous “representation” if they don’t have self-understanding and have genuine self-comfort and mental health. And it’s not like he copped beards, exuded shame or had a bf for four and five years that he tried to keep under wraps.
He’s cooly doing his thing right now and acknowledging himself. And I appreciate this nonchalant, non identity focused, but love and relationship focused way of “coming out”. That in and of itself is helpful. There’s need to be bitter.
Donston
*no need to be bitter.
Daniel-Reader
So he’s self loathing enough to use the term “gayer” to describe an inanimate object (a meh song) – how very “that’s so gay” of him on the scale of self loathing? So is he really just trolling with a guy friend? Or is he saying he’s bi?
RobtheElder
Kevin McHale is a handsome dude, who happens to have a cute boyfriend. I can’t see why that would interest anyone but their families, friends and fans. Kevin, in case your mom never explained the duple on your right ear, it was the place God grabbed to pull you out of the oven when you were done… RobtheElder
rozz01
seems cool to me
Aromaeus
I love Ariana as much as the next gay but her new song is just okay and she really needs to learn to enunciate.
cttimberwolf56
I only have one point to make that is just because someone is famous does not mean the world has a right to know all about you everyone has a right to a private life.I do not believe someone one has to come out as gay we do not require straight people to come out as straight. the one thing I notice from commits made on this site Gays are harder on those who are gay and lack the balls to love our community instead of breaking down our community show support and give them space to come out at there pace it is there life is it not. Time to show love and support just a thought
chris33133
So I’d like to propose the start of the post-come-out era; maybe we should it the “isn’t it obvious” era.
When someone is seen holding hands with a person of the opposite sex (or doing more), kissing that person, posting pics with that person on whatever social media platform you wish, and saying nice to gushing things about that person, we don’t ask them whether or not they are heterosexual. We sort of assume it with a shrug and pretty much say, “isn’t it obvious?”
So moving forward, when someone is seen holding hands with a person of the same sex/gender (or doing more), kissing that person, posting pics with that person on whatever social media platform you wish, and saying nice to gushing things about that person, let’s stop asking whether they are gay or lesbian. Can’t we sort of assume it with a shrug and say, “isn’t it obvious?”
And the sign for this new era could be: #Isn’tItObvious?
Donston
Part of it is identity politics. We have to know which letter to fit you under. While I’m not quite one of those “I don’t believe in labels” people and have no problem flatout telling people I am a homoromantic gay-leaning pansexual, it is disturbing how we simply can’t allow people to live their lives without the gay/bi/pan/fluid/queer/non-binary/whatever camps wanting someone to officially “declare themselves” in order to fit into a specific camp for the sake of a grander agenda or for individuals’ specific fantasies. I been got over that, because a great percentage of people walking around talking about how they’re so proud to be whatever are full of self-hate or hate in general or have no clue who they are or are complete loonies who aren’t interested in truly loving anyone. And everyone’s orientation and sense of gender is specific to them.
Someone has a partner who they apparently love, has passion for and happiness with, and they have no problem with people seeing that. This someone also hasn’t spewed hatred, has never exuded self-hatred, and has never gone out of their way to manipulate people. What more do you want? The dude rather unabashedly outted himself. And some still aren’t happy. Do we really want a bunch of Nico Tortorella’s walking around constantly talking about their sense of self while ultimately saying nothing? And why do we need people to flatout say, “I’m gay”? For some the “movement” isn’t about self-understanding, self-comfort, living your life without shame and finding individual happiness but more about repping for certain groups and fitting into sociological bubbles. That needs to change. And this particular Kevin is a refreshing example of that potential change.
Jack Meoff
FMD is he milking this or what. Is his career on the skids or something?
Donston
If he was looking to make a big deal he would have written a long post through his social media, done a few interviews, declared how proud he is to be whatever and joined in on a few pride parades. All he’s done is show off his bf in a couple of descrete Insta photos and make a few sarcastic, self-deprecating comments on Twitter. If we treat it like it’s not a big deal then it’s not a big deal. Then again, there’s always going to be people who find something to bytch about no matter how someone “comes out”.
If this is partly about trying to get relevant again it’s easy work since the “gay media” and folks on social media are so easy to troll and tend to make a huge deal out of everything.
DCguy
Donston, 5 posts rabidly fangurling out over this? What’s your agenda?
Donston
Not fangirling. Defending. I don’t know this dude beyond Glee. And I pretty much hated that show and gave up on it by its second season. People here (including yourself sometimes) like to troll or criticize with little to no reason. I at least give very detailed reasons when I go in on someone.
This guy has apparently fallen in love with a dude, has started to feel comfortable with himself and is willing to share that with the public to an extent while also not exploiting the situation or manipulating people. Yet, still, people find reasons to trash. This can’t be how the “gay community” reacts to someone who comes out who’s older than 21. Of course, I realize that this site represents a very small sample size. But still. Now, do you actually have a counter argument to my mulitple posts, or are you still gonna be made that he wasn’t screaming “I’m gay” to everyone by the age of 11?
DCguy
And I repeat, 5 posts rabidly freaking out because people pointed out rightly that he’s still acting somewhat ashamed.
Geeker
He’s really taking his time with this whole coming out business.
Donston
This is the type of stuff I’m not getting and why I keep posting on this article.
He’s already “come out”. Once you say you’re in a relationship with someone of the same gender, is in love with someone of the same gender and you refer to a song as “gayer than me” that’s about as coming out as you can get. We need to stop trying to force people to declare identities, give tons of interviews and exploit every aspect of their personal life for the general agenda or for our own entertainment. Because many of the people who do that are only interested in pushing their own brand and self-interests.
The guy is living his life freely and without shame. That should be all we ask of people. If we wish for it to not be treated like a big deal then we have to stop acting like it’s a big deal.