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Country Star Billy Gilman Comes Out, Says Ty Herndon Inspired Him
Let it be known that November 20 will from here on be known as country music’s official coming out day. Hot on the heels of Nashville superstar Ty Herndon’s public acknowledgment that he’s a happily-partnered gay man, country performer Billy Gilman has been inspired to do the same. Gilman, 26, first garnered attention as the youngest person to score a top 40 country hit (he was 12 at the time) with the single “One Voice,” has followed Herndon’s lead and posted a video online in which he acknowledges he’s a gay man with a partner of five months.
Gilman tells viewers that it was “difficult for me to make this video not because I’m ashamed of being a gay male artist or a gay artist or a gay person. But it’s pretty silly to know that I’m ashamed of doing this knowing that because I’m in an genre and industry that is ashamed of me for being me. That said, I want to say that all of the country artists that literally I grew up with – Keith Urban, Vince, Lee Ann Rhimes and all of these wonderful friends of mine have been nothing but supportive. Not that they knew but they’ve just been such wonderful people.”
With the C&W floodgates now wide open, who do you think will come out next?
Watch Gilman’s video below.
Jeremy Kinser
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