The actor Matt Bomer appeared on Monday’s episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast, speaking about how he felt when the media outed his sexuality.
Bomer came out as gay publicly in 2012 during the Chase Humanitarian Awards, thanking his partner, Simon Halls, during his speech. However, Bomer told Ferguson that outlets such as Perez Hilton took “over [his] own personal narrative before [he] even had a chance to”.
Speculation around Bomer’s sexuality was rife before he came out, with tabloid media outlets discussing his personal relationships before he ever had.
“It wasn’t because I didn’t want to,” Bomer emphasised, “I didn’t even have an opportunity to.”
The actor also spoke of his concern that he didn’t want his family “to feel like they were some kind of shameful secret or something I was sweeping under the rug so I could have a great career”.
Although Bomer had never “officially” come out to the media, he never hid his sexuality when out in public.
Bomer said he didn’t feel that he had the platform to actually announce his sexuality, adding that his right to come out publicly was “stolen by people who did have a microphone at the time”.
As well as not being given the agency to come out on his own terms, Bomer also previously claimed that being outed as gay meant he lost out on the chance to play Superman in the 2000s.
However, Bomer found success as Neal Caffrey in White Collar and, more recently, as Hawkins in Fellow Travelers.
Fellow Travelers, which aired on Paramount in 2023, explores the effects on LGBTQ people who are forced to live in the closet in the 1950s. Set in Washington, DC, Bomer stars opposite Jonathan Bailey. The two start an intense affair as Senator McCarthy (Chris Bauer) launches the “Lavender Scare”, a persecution of gay people in the United States.
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Bomer said it was refreshing to play the part of a gay man, particularly after both White Collar and Magic Mike cast him in the mold of “ a straight leading man”.
