As the young alternative singer Yungblud has ascended the ranks since the release of his debut album in 2018, scooping up awards from MTV and NME in the process, the musician has tried to uplift other communities as well. He was a supporter of the anti-gun violence March For Our Lives rally that year, and earlier this year, when millions of Americans were taking to the streets to protest in support of Black Lives Matter, his former girlfriend Halsey praised him for recognizing his own privilege as a white man and putting himself on the line to help injured protestors in more danger than himself. “And a big personal thank you to @yungblud who literally ran exposed in front of rounds being shot to drag wounded people to safety without even thinking twice,” the “Without Me” singer tweeted at the time.
The artist born Dominic Harrison has worked to build an inclusive fanbase, standing up for minorities of all stripes while also advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. But according to a recent interview, Yungblud may be more than just an ally. This month, the U.K.-based LGBTQ+ magazine Attitude honored Yungblud with their annual Gamechanger Award. Though he had previously described his sexuality as “more straight” (but “very fluid about it”), the South Yorkshire-born artist used the opportunity being honored by a gay publication to officially come out as pansexual for the first time.
“I’m still quite weird about going, ‘This is what I am’ to the world because I’ve never really said it,” Yungblud told Attitude after admitting that “everything has fucking changed” since he last spoke about his sexuality. When pressed further about whether or not he considers himself part of the LGBTQ+ community, he responded, “I know it’s such a massive statement to me, but probably, yeah, I think I would.” He continued, “I haven’t said that yet because I don’t want some mad article everywhere going, ‘Yungblud comes out as fucking pan!’”
Nevertheless, Yungblud did come out as “fucking pan,” adding, “I wasn’t into that — like, my sexuality is mine and I’m proud of it…I love everyone. I’m attracted to everyone.” He’s even experimented enough with other men to be sure of this. “I’ve never dated someone publicly who’s a guy but I’ve definitely fucking like hooked up with people and been into and loved it,” he says. “What’s crazy is, I didn’t preconceive that, but when that happened, I was like, oh. And it’s confusing because you’re like, ‘Holy shit, you’re beautiful and I fucking had a great time and it’s magic.’” Later, he added, “You’ve got to lose yourself in a load of people to figure out who you are sexually. Fuck me, bruv. Two years [ago], I fucking hated olives. Now, I love olives!”
Quite unsurprisingly, he credits this discovery to his past relationship with the openly bisexual Halsey. “She taught me so much, even about my sexuality,” he admitted. “The conversations we would have at night, she has such knowledge because she’s been openly bisexual for years. It’s so funny when you’re dating someone, yet owe them a lot towards your sexuality. Even though she is not a man, she made me go, ‘Oh my god, I probably am into that.’” Bestowing the Grammy-nominated artist with the utmost praise, he added, “I met someone and she changed my whole perception of what love could be. It didn’t work out in the end because we’re better as friends and I think that’s what it was. We’re kind of very the same so that was weird for us.”
