Gay Actor Griffin Matthews Calls Religion Lying About His Sexual Orientation

JAKARTA - Dear White People star Griffin Matthews emphasized that religion told lies about his sexual orientation when he was growing up as gay.

The actor, who plays D'Unte on the Netflix series, told The Advocate about his struggles to accept his sexual orientation - and how religion affects his ability to accept himself.

Matthews revealed how shocked his mother was when he admitted he was gay when he was 23 years old.

The 38-year-old man was taken to a therapist by his mother when he was only two years old. After he left, Matthews' mother told him: "The therapist told me, there's nothing wrong with him, just let him be himself."

Talking about his sexuality, Matthews said: “It's not something I thought about in college because I went to drama school. I am always like this. So I thought that was the start of me really… accepting that I had been told some lies about myself through religion ”.

Matthews later spoke about his close relationship with his family, saying they had spent hours talking via Zoom since the pandemic began.

"We had some of the most intense family conversations we've ever had because of everything that happened in the world, including about my childhood and my sexuality and what I went through at school," said Matthews.

"I don't think my parents are, they don't really understand what I went through in high school, being black and gay."

Matthews said she and others she attended school spent years "trying to be a slave" before claiming to be LGBT + after graduation.