In a powerful YouTube video, The Walking Dead‘s Daniel Newman came out to his fans shortly after posting to Twitter on Thursday evening.
You may also recognize the actor, who plays Daniel on AMC’s hit series, from roles in Heroes, Homeland, 7th Heaven, One Tree Hill, and The Vampire Diaries.
I'm #OUTandPROUD #LGBT Love you guys. Be proud to be yourself. We need everyone just the way you are! I'll chat with you guys tonight
— Daniel Newma? (@DanielNewman) March 30, 2017
While working at a shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth, Newman decided to come out after a girl approached him and thanked him for all of his charitable work as a straight ally.
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“Why have you never said that publicly before?” she asked, after he told her he way gay. “You could help change lives.”
He describes the formative moment in detail:
It hit me like a gut punch. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. I realized how important it is in this day and age to be visible; have people know who you are…When you are accomplishing incredible things and you are hiding who you are, you are hurting hundreds of millions of people….
By us staying quiet, we’re partially to blame for kids getting beat up and ridiculed, stereotypes and stigmas….I grew up in an Irish Catholic family, a farm town in Georgia in the South, and it wasn’t even about homophobia or anything; you just keep your private life private. So that’s the way I’ve always been. But now is no the time any longer to keep it private.
“I’m an actor,” Newman says. “The whole world, the industry, is like ‘here’s your big break, you’re on The Walking Dead, you can’t come out, you can’t be in the press, because everything you work so hard for is going to be gone.”
“There’s no gay or bi leading men, no action heroes, your career’s going to be over.’ I don’t care. Because I know what’s right.”
Watch the moving video below:
h/t: Towleroad
michael_totzke
Go. Daniel.
whatsaywhat
LOVE a hot ginger. So sexy!!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
While working at a shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth, ”
While coming out (for most people) is a very positive thing both personally and societally, being discreet or private about your sexuality (for whatever good reason) doesn’t negate or undermine genuine good works undertaken for the LGBT community, even if it’s in the guise of an “ally” ..especially when it’s counterposed with the shrill sanctimonious criticisms of those who do nothing –and very noisily– than aspire to be the next gaymous attention-whore
DCguy
The typical defense of the closet.
Funny how you attack the woman for saying that to him, in spite of the fact that he responded to it as a “revelation”.
But I also find it interesting, that something he did as a successful working actor who doesn’t need to, you are attacking as trying to be an attention whore.
Is Mike Pence a straight attention whore for being photographed with his wife?
mhoffman953
@DCguy Mike Pence must be on your mind all the time because even in topics that have nothing to do with him, you’ll mention his name. Do you have a crush on him?
jhon_siders
Well Pence IS a idiot (even if the article has nothing to do with him ) We are glad hes gone from Indiana but now we have a crook that accepted money from a Ponzi scheme operator !
paul dorian lord fredine
good for him. hopefully others will follow his example.
Bubble
I really wish that someone like Dolly Parton, who is widely known to be gay but remains deeply closeted, would heed this brave, honest young man’s words when he says:
‘I realized how important it is in this day and age to be visible; have people know who you are…When you are accomplishing incredible things and you are hiding who you are, you are hurting hundreds of millions of people….’
When a young actor on the cusp of his career has the integrity and guts to do the right thing, it only highlights how toxic Parton’s stance is.
NateOcean
What? Now even zombies are gay?
hwc2016
I watch Walking Dead every week and never seen him LMAO> must be one of the background actors.
ShowMeGuy
I was thinking the exact same thing. Then I saw the list of earlier shows he has been on, many of which I also watched back in those shows’ days……….I still don’t recognize him.
Daniel-Reader
He was on horseback and greeted people (like Carol and Rick) coming to The Kingdom to see the king.
ShaugnR
I haven’t followed WALKING DEAD for some time. Daniel, feel proud of your life, you are an inspiration.
galileo
Don’t know why but I actually thought he was already out, but good for him, it’s not always a career enhancing move in his industry even in 2017 to come out of the closet.
jhon_siders
I have always thought he was too cute to be str8 !! Id be his daddy !
James
This was not hard to figure out. He regularly posted selfies with another guy (who looks a lot like him), and them being quite close, including that foot rub picture up there. He was coy, but it was like jazz-hands from inside the closet door.
Hermes
With regards, what the girl thought is also what I thought – I do not look at every man who can be close to another man and assume they are gay — most of them are straight in my experience.
MichaelJ
Very moving coming out statement. All the best to Daniel, and to the young people he is trying to help.
Ksb1978
I always assumed he is bi considering he would always flirt with his male and female followers on Twitter. Good for him.
Jack Meoff
This guy has just done an awesome thing in a very eloquent coming out video and I applaud him for it yet still there are people on this site who want to question his motives and crap all over his efforts or criticise him for not being famous enough. What is wrong with you people? Why can’t you just accept something positive without having to be such negative nellies all the time?
lostom1
Hot dude but has a walk on role.
Rob
A) Who?
B) Worst coming out story ever. He neglected to mention that he was born a poor black child in Mississippi.
C) Time for a new publicist
fur_hunter
Oh, My God!!!…..WOW!!!…..WOW!!!….WOW!!!…..I have been just bowled over by Daniel’s video. What courage! What grace! What an amazing young man! WOW! And what BRASS! Much KUDOS to Daniel. I wish him extreme success and I will be totally pissed if something happens to his growing career because of his honesty. Daniel….I am so proud of you. Stand tall. Stand firm. Stand proud. We are with you.
Kieran
Now THAT’s what you call Gay Pride. He says it so well. This should be shown in every high school sex ed class in America.
Auggie
Thank You for being #outandproud! I loved your message, and want to say Thank You! You have made a difference so so many people. Keep up the great work!