This just in: Actor Tyler Blackburn bats for both teams.
In a new interview with The Advocate, the 32-year-old TV heartthrob opens up about his sexuality publicly for the first time.
“I’m queer,” he says. “I’ve identified as bisexual since [I was] a teenager. I just want to feel powerful in my own skin, and my own mind, and in my own heart.”
Blackburn first made a name for himself as bad boy Caleb Rivers in Pretty Little Liars and its spin-off, Ravenswood. Last year, he joined the cast of CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, playing Alex Manes, a gay military veteran and amputee.
Though he’s identified as bisexual for many years, Blackburn says deep-seated “self-hatred and shame” forced him to keep it a closely-guarded secret.
“I heard so many things from within the queer community about bisexuality being a cop-out or bullshit or the easy way out or something,” he says, “and that always stuck with me because I felt the pressure from all sides to have [my sexuality] figured out.”
Well, not anymore!
Blackburn continues, “It wasn’t until my late 20s, towards the end of Pretty Little Liars, that I really allowed myself to go there and not just wonder about it or lust over it, but experience that vulnerability and experience the emotional aspect of what it is to be bisexual.”
Blackburn says that he’s now looking forward to living his life authentically, without any secrets or shame.
“My goal above everything is to feel as happy as possible,” he added. “As free as possible.”
Sounds like a great goal to us!
Scroll down for more pics from Blackburn’s Instagram page…
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