During an appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', the 'Pose' star opens up about his difficulty in accepting who he was growing up because of the very homophobic community.
- July 13, 2020
AceShowbiz - Actor Billy Porter developed post-traumatic stress disorder in his teens after a cousin threatened him with death if he became gay.
The "Pose" star admits the black community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania wasn't full of love for him when he "came out" and some homophobic family members were deeply upset, making it difficult for him to accept who he was.
"My experience in the 80s was my cousin saying that if I ever turned gay, he would kill me," Porter said during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". "So yeah, sometimes my trauma shows. Growing up gay in the black community, it's a very homophobic community across the board."
But Porter insists attitudes are changing and he's determined to keep pushing people in the right direction, "I know it's hard to hear but I have worked my whole life to be in a position where I can speak from authority, where I have a platform to speak."
