Former American Idol star David Archuleta is opening up about his queer identity and how he once attempted to do everything he could to deny his sexuality.
In an exclusive interview with People to discuss his upcoming memoir, Devout, Archuleta shared some insight into the project as well as his own coming out journey.
"It's about coming out of the closet, coming out of Mormonism and trying to teach people why coming out is not just a choice," the singer began.
He shared he had a difficult time coming out given his religious upbringing, having done everything to not accept who he is.
"Because people from where I grew up thought, 'Well, you made the choice to do that. Why would you do that?' And it's like, well, I tried everything not to be queer," Archuleta said.
The "Crush" singer shared that he is in a much better place in his life now and that is ready to have a discussion about certain events in his life no matter how controversial they may be.
"I feel like it's an important message. Even if it's some risky stuff to talk about, I think we need to talk about certain things. I'm ready to go on tour. I'm ready to talk about the topics, and if there's anything that people don't understand, I'm ready to combat that too," he shared.
Archuleta came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021 in a post to Instagram.
"I like to keep to myself but also thought this was important to share because I know so many other people from religious upbringings feel the same way," his post said via Today. "I've been open to myself and my close family for some years now that I am not sure about my own sexuality."
"I came out in 2014 as gay to my family. But then I had similar feelings for both genders so maybe a spectrum of bisexual. Then I also have learned I don't have too much sexual desires and urges as most people, which works I guess because I have a commitment to save myself until marriage. Which people call asexual when they don't experience sexual urges," he added.
Archuleta was also once a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until his inner turmoil about his sexuality took a toll on him and he nearly committed suicide because of the disconnect between his religion and who he was.
"In the church, they say homosexuality is a sin, it's of the devil. I would think, 'Oh, my gosh, I don't want to be of the devil. So let me keep praying and fasting and trying to be obedient,'" he said, according to NBC. "I thought ending my life would be better than becoming evil for allowing myself to fall in love with the same sex."
The singer got support from his mother who decided to step away from the church as well to support her son and his journey.
Archuleta rose to stardom when he scored the runner-up position on American Idol in 2008. His new book, Devout, releases on May 6.
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