Troye Sivan.Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Troye Sivanis opening up about his journey to self-acceptance.
Unlike many queer mainstream singers and actors, Sivan came out before he was famous because, he says in the new issue of PEOPLE, “I want to live without fear.”
The pop star came out to his family at age 15, then shared his story three years later in a YouTube video.
“I was about to sign my record deal, and I really wanted to be in charge of how I came out,” Sivan, now 26, says. “I didn’t want anyone to take that away from me. I wanted to start going out and going to gay clubs and meeting boys, and I wanted to write songs about love that were true and genuine.”
“I didn’t really see anyone that I was like, ‘There I am,’ " Sivan recalls. “I remember catching a little bit ofQueer As Folkone night when my family was asleep, but I didn’t feel comfortable watching it in the living room. So I retreated to the Internet. A lot of my queer representation and queer education came from the early days of YouTube, watching coming-out stories and stuff like that.”
That’s why, after becoming a vlogger himself, Sivan told his own coming-out story on YouTube in 2013, he says: “I knew how impactful it could be, because of how impactful it was to me.”
In the years since, Sivan’s androgynous style and sex-positive pop hits like “My My My!” and “Bloom” have made him a budding gay icon. Meanwhile, as an actor, he’s found another forum for telling queer stories. In the comedy-dramaThree Months(streaming Feb. 23 on Paramount+), he plays Caleb, a Florida teen who, after being exposed to HIV, falls in love while waiting 90 days to see if he’s contracted the virus.
Sivan says his goal as an actor is the same as with his music: “To make a better world for LGBT people that are to come.”
WithThree Months, he hopes to drive conversations and educate people about stigmatized and taboo topics, like taking PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis medicine to prevent HIV) and getting tested regularly for STIs.
“One of the big motivations for me to do it was [to address] all of these things that there should just be no shame about,” Sivan says.
Though relatively new to acting, Sivan managed to impress his Oscar-winningThree MonthscostarEllen Burstyn: “He is alive in the moment,” she says. “He is a natural actor. I certainly expect he will be a big movie star.”
Jared Frieder, who wrote, directed and executive-produced the film, says, “I wrote Caleb as the kid I wished I could’ve been in high school — fearless, funny, charming — and that’s who Troye is.”
Frieder adds: “Troye was able to ground Caleb in a way that felt honest and made you fall in love with him. He instantly made Caleb feel real, like I’ve known him for years. Troye accessed every part of the emotional spectrum to bring Caleb to life, sometimes in the same scene … Troye inhabits a character with such conviction and naturalism. When he’s on camera, you can’t take your eyes off him — he’s got charisma for absolute days.”
With future acting and music projects, Sivan hopes to continue paving the way for future LGBTQ generations, though he knows self-acceptance for them won’t happen overnight.
“Coming out is often spoken about as this thing where you do it, then it’s over,” he says. “But it’s a really long journey of undoing and unlearning. It’s a million little moments of pushing yourself to love yourself and be proud of yourself.”
For more on Troye Sivan, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
