‘X Factor’ hunk Dalton Harris reflects on coming out

“I live more freely and happily now. I feel so much more empowered and just full of life. I can experience more healthy relationships as well. But also I now receive more death threats and hate than ever but it is how it is. Maybe one day in the future when another Jamaican artist or person is publicly pansexual or anything else in the LGBTQIA community they won’t have to face the same amount of abuse as I do now. I lost people that said they loved me but I’m happier. I was prepared for coming out, I have the power back now. In the UK, being gay isn’t something that people react to as they do in Jamaica so I wouldn’t feel half as worthless as some Jamaicans go out of their way to make someone feel. I am sure my sexuality won’t matter. I hope to be inspiring people to not only see themselves in me but to be motivated to self-love and self-care in a way that allows them to live their lives to the fullest and most happiest and especially young black gay men and women in the Caribbean, whether they are out or not. I know a lot of time the world tries to intimidate and scares you into silence because they have this weird idea about what a gay man is. Being gay doesn’t mean I want to be a girl or is weak or want to be a man. People hear the term gay and immediately start to think sexually and that is weird that they do that. Gender identity and sexuality are two different things, and gender role is also up to the person to choose. I hope anyone that is gay and is reading this can believe that they are not less than and that they deserve love and to be valued and respected just like anyone else.”–Jamaica-born performer and The X Factor UK winner Dalton Harris, reflecting on the impact of his coming out. Harris came out in October 2020 and says he endured homophobic backlash since, particularly in his native Jamaica. In the same interview with Dance Hall, Harris discusses his newfound career performing in London’s West End.