Empire Star Jussie Smollett Says He’s Sexually Fluid

In a candid interview in the latest issue of Out magazine, Empire star Jussie Smollett discusses his activism and what it was like officially coming out as gay to Ellen DeGeneres last year. The actor then reveals something even more intriguing — that he is open to love, “not to gender.”

“If I had to label myself, I would label myself as a gay man. With that said, I believe that love is the only thing that matters, and I would hope that anybody would leave themselves open – not to gender, but to love. … If we truly believe that we are born this way, then why do we try to stifle the way we were born? If I fall in love down the road with a woman, I’m going to love that woman.”

Smollett’s declaration falls within the lines of being sexually fluid – the openness to be sexually attracted to various genders without having to divorce their own selective sexual orientation. Fans of season 2 of Empire saw a similar scenario on the show, when Smollett’s openly gay character, Jamal Lyon, had a brief romance with a female character who was aware of his character’s identity. The spark between them was driven less by sex than by the unique chemistry they had for each other.

Smollett, however, seems to disavow a specifically bisexual label:

“You’re not going to tell me that loving someone is wrong. That does not mean that heterosexuality is not a very real. It does not mean that bisexuality is not very real. It does not mean that homosexuality is not very real. They are all very real. But what I’m saying is, I am a gay man. I am a gay man. I am a gay man. I don’t know how many times I have to say that.”

Read the whole interview at Out’s site.