In an emotional Instagram post, actor Colton Haynes shared a photo with fans that he said he tried to scrub from the Internet while he was still in the closet during the early days of his career. The homoerotic pic is the March 2006 cover of gay magazine XY, and it shows a shirtless Haynes pinning down another shirtless model, their faces close, looking as if they’re about to kiss.
The “American Horror Story” star wrote a lengthy caption, opening up about how it haunted him while he was not out and trying to become an actor in Hollywood. He also said he was 15 years old when the picture was taken.
“I’ve never posted this picture before. In fact, I spent a big part of my career trying to erase it from the Internet while I was still in the closet,” Haynes explained. “Partly because so many ppl in Hollywood told me I would never work as an openly gay actor, but part of it was because I was incredibly ashamed.
“It made me sad to see these pictures I had taken as a 15 [year] old model…before I was placed with voice & movement coaches to straighten me up for the cameras…before I learned to see my queerness as a liability. I was jealous of him,” he went on to say. “The boy in these pictures was so open, so free. He had to be taught that it wasn’t ok to be who he was.”
“Being gay is worth celebrating. I wish I’d figured that out sooner, but I’m so glad I know it now. To everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community, I hope you celebrate yourselves this month & always, exactly as you are,” Haynes concluded.
After years of rumors, Haynes came out as gay in 2016. Since then, he’s been open about his personal life, more recently, talking about his addiction. He also has a few projects in the works: It was reported last year he will appear in a comedy called “#InstaGays” from “Broad City” co-creator Ilana Glazer. It was also recently reported he will also star in an LGBTQ comedy series for Peacock.
Read Haynes’ post in full below.
