Yahoo Finance David Archuleta Says He's 'Not Sure' of His Sexuality in Pride Post: 'God Made Me How I Am for a Purpose'
David Archuleta/Instagram David Archuleta
David Archuleta has addressed his sexuality for the first time in a deeply personal Pride Month post.
The American Idol season 7 runner-up, 30, who has long been open about his Mormon upbringing, penned a thoughtful statement about his struggle reconciling his faith with his sexuality on Saturday. "I like to keep to myself but also thought this was important to share because I know so many other people from religious upbringings feel the same way," he shared in the caption of an Instagram selfie.
"I've been open to myself and my close family for some years now that I am not sure about my own sexuality," Archuleta continued. "I came out in 2014 as gay to my family. But then I had similar feelings for both genders so maybe a spectrum of bisexual. Then I also have learned I don't have too much sexual desires and urges as most people, which works I guess because I have a commitment to save myself until marriage. Which people call asexual when they don't experience sexual urges."
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He urged his 383K Instagram followers to be more compassionate to those "wrestling to follow their beliefs," something he admits he's struggled with. "Idk what to make of it and I don't have all the answers," Archuleta wrote. "I just invite you to please consider making room to be more understanding and compassionate to those who are LGBTQIA+, and those who are a part of that community and trying to find that balance with their faith which also is a huge part of their identity like myself."
"I think we can do better as people of faith and Christians, including Latter-day Saints, to listen more to the wrestle between being LGBTQIA+ and a person of faith," he added. "There are more than you may realize going through that wrestle after all the misunderstandings that come with it."
Archuleta went on to tell those in similar situations, "you're not alone. You can be part of the LGBTQIA+ community and still believe in God and His gospel plan..."
"I've tried for almost 20 years to try and change myself until I realized God made me how I am for a purpose," he continued his statement in the comments. "And instead of hating what I have considered wrong I need to see why God loved me for who I am and that it's not just sexuality."
The Therapy Sessions artist debuted on American Idol in 2008 before taking a two-year hiatus from music in 2012 to go on a mission trip to Rancuagua, Chile, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). "When I went on my mission, it kind of gave me a step away from everything, and I was able to grow up a little bit, on my own, without everyone watching me," he said to The Salt Lake Tribune in 2017.
"Maybe there are other people out there who are having a hard time finding their worth, feeling like they're good enough, and I can tell them a little bit about my challenge with those insecurities, and finding a purpose in spirituality," Archuleta added. "I dared to not be afraid to be a Mormon in the entertainment industry."
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The LDS Church has long opposed same-sex marriage and homosexual activity. "The experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people," their website states. "The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is."
Members of the church that act on same-sex attraction are considered to have violated their teachings on morality and are subject to "ecclesiastical discipline." Although the LDS Church previously taught that same-sex attraction is a curable condition, it now maintains that conversion therapy is "unethical."
