Los Angeles: Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says he was ‘very homophobic’ during his teens as he discovered his own sexuality.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine the singer said he faced “terrible turmoil” while coming into his own as a young man and battled societal and religious tension.
“When I went to boarding school, I walked a bit funny and I bounced a bit, and I was also very homophobic because I was like, ‘If I’m gay, I’m completely f***** for eternity… And I was a kid, like, you know, discovering sexuality…’Maybe I’m gay, maybe I’m this, maybe I’m that, I can’t be this.’ I was terrified. It can be brutal until you realise everyone is going through this,” Martin said.
The singer added that his ‘hardcore’ classmates, who he believes must have also been ‘going through their thing’, harassed him every day.
“For a few years, they were very much like, ‘You’re definitely gay’, in quite a full-on manner, quite aggressively telling me that. It was weird for me for a few years,” he said.
Martin said his religious upbringing led him to believe homosexuality was ‘wrong’ and caused further worry about his sexuality.
The singer got a better understanding of his sexuality and his beliefs at the age of 15 after which his thought process completely changed and the constant bullying suddenly stopped.
“At about 15-and-a-half, I don’t know what happened, but I was like, ‘Yeah, so what?’ and then it all just stopped overnight. It was very interesting.”
Martin was previously married to actor Gwyneth Paltrow with whom he shares two children.
He is currently dating 29-year-old actor Dakota Johnson.
PTI
