Tyler James Williams denies he’s gay and says speculating someone’s sexuality is dangerous

Tyler James Williams denies he’s gay and says speculating someone’s sexuality is dangerous:

“Overanalyzing someones behavior in an attempt to ‘catch’ them directly contributes to the anxiety a lot of queer and queer questioning people feel when they fear living in their truth.”

In a series of Instagram Stories, the Abbott Elementary star, 30, wrote over a black background confirming that he “wouldn’t address stuff like this” but felt the “conversation is bigger than me.” 

“I’m not gay; but the culture of trying to ‘find’ some kind of hidden trait or behavior that a closeted person ‘let slip’ is very dangerous,” Williams wrote. “Overanalyzing someone’s behavior in an attempt to ‘catch’ them directly contributes to the anxiety a lot of queer and queer questioning people feel when they fear living in their truth.”

Williams also said that trying to make assumptions about a person’s sexuality based on characteristics “reinforces an archetype many straight men have to live under that is often unrealistic, less free, and limits individual expression.” 

Fans online have made jokes or started rumors that Williams is gay, particularly after he played a gay man in Dear White People — but the actor has never officially made a statement about it until now. “Usually I wouldn’t address stuff like this, but I feel like it as a conversation is bigger than me. I’m not gay, but I think the culture of trying to ‘find’ some kind of hidden trait or behavior that a closed person ‘let slip’ is very dangerous,” Williams stated in his Instagram Stories.

He continued, “Overanalyzing someone’s behavior in an attempt to ‘catch’ them directly contributes to the anxiety a lot of queer and queer-questioning people feel when they fear living in their truth. It makes the most pedestrian of conversations and interactions in spaces feel less safe for our gay brothers and sisters and those who may be questioning.”

The Everybody Hates Chris alum added, “It also reinforces an archetype many straight men have to live under that is oftentimes unrealistic, less free, and limits individual expressing.”

Williams said that he has be using his platform “to push back against those archetypes,” noting that “being straight doesn’t look one way. Being gay doesn’t look one way.”