TJ Osborne revealed that he would have declared himself a gay man earlier if he knew the positive reaction his friends and fans would have and encouraged others who may be struggling with his identity to do the same.
The singer, who represents half of the prominent country duo The Brothers Osborne, publicly discussed being gay for the first time in an interview with Time earlier this month, noting that he was away from home for friends and family for a while, but finally decided to be as open and honest as possible with his fans.
He appeared alongside his brother, John, on “CBS This Morning” Friday, where he discussed the anxiety he felt about coming out and the positive reception he has experienced since he officially did so.
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TJ Osborne discussed coming out as a gay man in country music.
(Terry Wyatt / Getty Images for CMA)
“It has been incredible, honestly and I would say just to encourage anyone who is dealing with the same thing … It is a difficult thing to describe and very difficult to pass on,” explained the singer. “After I finally came out, I didn’t really understand the magnitude of how much people cared about me, loved me and supported me, and honestly, if I had known this all along, I probably would have done it a long time ago and saved myself a lot. fights. “
He added: “So, anyone out there, if you’re dealing with it, there are people who love you and people who support you, many of them, so feel encouraged by that.”
The singer went on to note that, being a public figure, he believes he found it easier to declare himself gay than most people. Although his close friends and family had known about his sexual orientation for a while, letting the audience know seemed like something that would always come “out of nowhere”.
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“Honestly, for heterosexual people, taking on is really weird. It’s a weird thing to say. It’s out of the blue and it’s a really weird thing to mention. I work in the entertainment business, so I like a lot of attention but not that type “, he said. “That kind of attention is weird, it’s just uncomfortable. Being able to do that and do it at that moment, all at once, was good. I think for a lot of people, they don’t go out because, for me, it’s like ‘ When do you do it? When do you say it? “For me it was that moment of just taking a leap of faith. “
TJ previously discussed the support he received shortly after leaving during an interview on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”.
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“I expected a wave of love from family and friends. I didn’t expect it to feel the way I did,” he told the host. “I think it’s one thing when you just know and assume that people love you, and it’s different when you hear it and when you hear it sincerely.”
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Later in the interview, he added: “Now, I feel incredibly loved and it’s one of those things that I’m like, ‘God, I wish I could share that love with other people’. And then having people that I never expected to say anything, coming to me. People that I feel embody masculinity and heterosexual culture to the umpteenth degree, leaving with great pride for me. That was really the moment for me that made me feel like, ‘Wow, that was there all along.’