I came out to the car and he just started screaming at me, and it boiled up to him screaming at me about how he hated that I was gay, and he didn’t know what to do with me.
A month or two after that, when I was leaving my last day on the set of my first movie – which was a huge step for me, I was so excited – he freaked out because I was late.
“Before my dad moved to Florida I kind of had a meltdown and told him, and he just hated it. He was later outed behind his back by one of his best friends, although he didn’t find out until his graduation party – “It was so nonchalant for the person I held closest at that time to reveal something that should have been mine,” he says – and though his accepting mother was his “ray of light” while growing up, his relationship with his father and brother took a hit after coming out at home.
It’s funny, because people make fun of the drama kids in high school, but then the drama club kids grow up and get to be in movies and on TV and suddenly everyone wants to be their friend.” And while I’m not endorsing fighting, I’m happy I did fight back. I’d have people trying to bait me to get into fights in the hallways a lot, and eventually I ended up getting into fights. “I think that’s when people started calling me gay I didn’t come out, people just assumed.
Like many people from the LGBTQ community, Garrett faced bullying from people who targeted his sexuality before he even knew how to put a label on it. “I’ve always been a bit awkward, but I started to become more comfortable when I joined the drama club,” he says. Related: Ezra Miller would love to see a non-binary magical human in Fantastic BeastsĪt school, he found it hard to fit in, describing himself as a “very conflicted” teenager. He’s always been more comfortable with himself than I’ve ever been, and I’ve always admired that about him.” “I was trying to learn how to be comfortable with myself, so he took me under his wing and was like, ‘Come out with me and my friends, you’ll be safe, you’ll be in a good environment, and you won’t have to worry about outside factors’. “We used to go out on the weekends and I would use a fake ID to get into these clubs and bars,” Garrett recalls. He was the first person Garrett came out to, and played a big part in the young actor’s journey towards self-acceptance. Related: Krishna Omkar Gaysians cover interview: “James Baldwin taught me about the intersection of race and sexuality”īy the time he turned 16, Garrett was actively looking to embrace his newly-discovered sexual identity, and would regularly make use of a fake ID to soak up gay nightlife on the weekend with an older friend, Ronnie. I didn’t really realise at the time how aggressive and detrimental that kind of thing can be to a young person.” I remember visiting high school when I was still in middle school, and there was only one out gay guy in the school – which looking back, was still pretty incredible for the community we were in – and everyone was freaking out like, ‘Oh my god, the gay guy is over there’. “So that was my first recollection of being like, ‘Oh, I’m into guys,’ and it was a bit of a struggle, because I didn’t come from a community that embraced difference. It’s not something they teach you when you’re growing up. I didn’t say it out loud, because I didn’t know how to put it into words and I didn’t fully understand it. I remember thinking, ‘I don’t like any girls, but I think some boys are cute’. “She was talking about boys she liked, and she was asking what girls I liked. “I was around 15 years old and walking down the sidewalk with a friend of mine,” he recalls. While most queer people remember feeling different from an early age – many for their entire lives – Garrett has a specific moment where his sexuality became apparent to him.