Troye Sivan says he doesn’t want to be a ‘gay icon’ as there are “plenty of other people who need to be heard first.”
The 22-year-old pop star came out in 2013, receiving praise from fans as well as his record label. “I’m Troye Sivan,” he began in a 2013 video entitled ‘Coming Out’, “and this is probably the most nervous I’ve been in my entire life.”
However, he’s now revealed that he has no plans to be a ‘gay icon’ in the music world.
“With people like Hayley Kiyoko and Brockhampton, we’re starting to get, finally, a diverse group of different LGBTQ perspectives,” he told Another Man. “That’s why I politely don’t want to take on that ‘gay icon’ thing. I’m one voice of so many that are missing, and so I’m just trying to tell my story, and right now I’m having so much fun in my life, I feel confident, I’m just enjoying myself, and so that was really important to me to express.
“I just don’t represent everybody, because I’m extraordinarily lucky,” he continued. “I come from a middle-class white family in Australia, and all of my dreams have come true by 22. I had the easiest coming out in the world… I don’t ever want to take that on really, because there are plenty of other people who need to be heard first.”
Speaking of his sexuality, Sivan says the biggest struggle was coming out to himself. “Then from that point onwards it was pretty smooth sailing, because I knew with certainty that my family was gonna be OK with it. But even so, you’ve got to do the thinking of like, ‘If my parents were to not accept me, what would I do? Where would I go?’ And when you’re 14, that’s rough. That’s rough for anyone.
“I felt like I was going insane, because I had reached the point where I was so petrified of lying and keeping this secret, but the fear of coming out was equally as scary,” he continued. “It was this constant conversation in my head: ‘Should I tell my dad now? Should I tell my mum tomorrow? What if this happens? What if that happens?’ And I’d lock my door and watch coming out videos. It was just so much, and then I only really got relief from it once I was on the other side of it all. So yeah, it is a stressful experience for anyone, but I definitely got lucky.”
Sivan recently performed with Taylor Swift during her reputation tour. Earlier this month, he shared ‘Bloom’ – another taster from his currently untitled second album. It followed on from previous singles ‘My My My!’ and ‘The Good Side’ and came with an animated lyric video by Jason Ebeyer.