"For me it's hurtful," he said about the fact that people are always bringing up his sexual orientation. "I get mad when people assume things about me because I imagine the people who don’t have the support system I have and how that must affect them."
He explained that the worst part about the rumours is that they must affect others. "That was why I was so angry, and you can see I still get riled up, because I don’t think people understand that when you come at me about something that’s stupid you hurt so many other people. They might not be speaking, but they’re listening."
The last time Shawn had to address his sexuality was for Rolling Stone in 2018.
For the cover story, he discussed "this massive, massive thing for the last five years about me being gay."
In the interview, the author explained that Shawn "finds himself watching his own interviews, analyzing his voice and his body language" because of the rumours.
"In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone—like a girl—in public, to prove to people that I’m not gay," he said. "Even though in my heart I know that it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me."
