Greyson Chance Comes Out as Gay

Greyson Chance, the young vocal wonder brought to fame by Ellen DeGeneres at the age of 12 after his astounding cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" went viral, has come out as gay. The singer took to Instagram to publicly proclaim that he is a gay man, and explained why he had kept it to himself for so long.

"I came to fully recognize that I was gay when I was sixteen," Chance said. "I decided not to publicize my sexuality largely due to a matter of privacy, as I was still trying to find comfort and confidence within my own skin." He also explained his perspective that his sexuality wasn't necessarily the most interesting topic of conversation: "I always found conversations regarding music, politics, art, books — and the greatness of Nas' catalog —to be far more interesting than what type of guy I was into. This is still true today."

It seems that Chance had a change of heart after receiving an inspiring message from a fan. Now, he wants all of his fans and loved ones to know how important it is to find yourself on your own terms, no matter how important visibility in the LGBT community may be. "I encourage anyone who is navigating their sexuality to devote as much time as they need to the process of finding self-confidence, self-acceptance, and self-love," he expressed. "Hell, for me, it took years to write this message."

Congrats to Greyson for the bravery to come out, and not letting any pressure affect his journey to finding his sexuality. Read his entire post below.

Photo via Instagram