Greek-French singer George Perris has revealed he is gay in an interview with People magazine, opening up to Jeff Nelson about how George Michael inspired him to live authentically.
“I don’t consider this a coming out, in the sense that I never went into a closet,” Perris, 38, said during the Zoom interview from his home in Athens.
“I never hid my life. I always lived the way I wanted to; I just didn’t have the courage to talk about it publicly.
“I grew up thinking there was something wrong with me because back then, when you were a kid in the 80s or 90s, you came to believe that something was wrong with me. wasn’t going to your place,” he said. “Back then, people always used words like ‘tolerant’ or ‘open-minded’, and I’ve always hated those terms because I think there’s a challenge in them; there is contempt in that. I don’t want you to tolerate me. I want you to accept me because we are 100% equal.
In the interview, Perris admits to hiding her sexuality as a child, in part because there were no role models and queer portrayals.
“I was brought up in a society where you had no way of seeing the normalcy of a same-sex relationship,” he says. “It wasn’t on TV. It wasn’t in the media. It wasn’t part of any discussion.
“My first experience with a public figure who came out was George Michael. I was 15 at the time, and for me it was like an eye opener because I never even thought that it was possible,” Perris says. “I didn’t know you could have a superstar who was an extremely talented and amazing artist and a handsome man and everything and he was gay, and he was living a normal life.
“It took me a while to come to terms with it” After coming out to close friends in his late teens, he told his family that he was gay in his early twenties: “There had a bit of a backlash, but everyone was fine and they all accepted it.”
“Even though in my private life I was no longer hiding at all, as a singer, as a public figure, it had a cost for me because there was a part of me that wanted to talk about it,” said Perris about his sexuality. “A lot of people said to me, ‘You shouldn’t come out,’ ‘You shouldn’t talk about it publicly,’ ‘It’s going to destroy your career’.”
Early last year George Perris released their highly anticipated song “Disobey.”
The Greek-French vocal sensation collaborated with Moh Denebi and Mark Caplice to craft an inspirational single that received countless positive reviews.
“Sometimes a guy just wants to have fun..! For those of you who have struggled, been bullied, abused, or didn’t believe in themselves for any number of reasons…this one’s for you! says the musician.
“‘Disobey’ will surely become the soundtrack to our desperately needed carefree moments,” he added.
