On coming out: “I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay…. I’m proud of my sexuality. I embrace it. It’s just another part of me [But] I’m trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader.”On realizing he was gay growing up: “I started to realize I wasn’t like every other boy. I realized that we all have our own power, and that whatever I wanted to do, I had to make happen.”
On his run on American Idol:”I was like, ‘I’m going to glue rhinestones on my eyelids, b—-!’ Right after the finale, I almost started talking about [being gay] to the reporters, but I thought, ‘I’m going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler.’ I didn’t want the Clay Aiken thing and the celebrity-magazine bulls—. I need to be able to explain myself in context… Clay Aiken’s gay, and I’m gay, and we couldn’t be more different. The only thing that is the same about everyone in the gay community is that we’re gay. … Why can’t we talk about a human community?”
On getting attention from fangirls: “I loved it this season when the girls went crazy for me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all hot.”
On sharing a bedroom with Idol winner Kris Allen: “They put me with the cute guy. Distracting! He’s the one guy I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type — except that he has a wife. I mean he’s open-minded and liberal, but he’s definitely 100% straight.”
On gaining self-confidence through Idol: “I finally checked into my self-worth for the first time in my life, and the fact that it coincided with Idol is so sweet. I mean, I still have moments where I think, ‘Oh, my skin is terrible, and I’m a little fat — I should really go to the gym more.’ But for the most part, when I look in the mirror now, I finally see somebody who can do something cool.”
Check out a video of the cover shoot at RollingStone.com.
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