Tyler Posey Says Girlfriend Phem Helped Him Realize He's 'Queer' and 'Sexually Fluid'
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Tyler Posey is opening up about his sexuality.
During an interview with NME, the singer and actor, 29, said that his partner — alt-rock singer Phem, whom he's been dating since February — has helped him explore and understand his sexual identity.
"I've been with everybody under the sun, and right now I'm in the best relationship that I've ever been in with a woman, and she's queer too," Posey said about Phem, whom he duetted with on his debut single "Shut Up."
He continued, "She's helped me realize that I fit under the queer umbrella and that I'm sexually fluid, I guess. No, not 'I guess,' I don't want anyone to take this [interview] and be like: 'Well, he was kind of wishy-washy about it.' "
Posey first came out as sexually fluid on adult social media platform OnlyFans in October. Since then, he told NME he's received mixed reactions from his followers.
"Someone asked if I'd been with men [as well as women], and I said yes," he said, recalling his coming out. "Since then there's been this really loud person online — I'm pretty sure it's only one person — and they're trying to call me a 'gay-baiter': pretending to be gay to get money, essentially."
The Teen Wolf alum described the comments as "really cruel," especially ones that were about his mother, who died of breast cancer in December 2014.
"I'm sober now and I've been working a lot on my mental health, so I'm in a place where I can somewhat laugh at that kind of thing," he said of the online haters. "But I know that other people who deal with this kind of shit may not be as strong mentally."
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Posey previously spoke about his coming out experience on the Just for Variety podcast, admitting that he was "just being honest" when a fan asked if he had ever been intimate with a man.
He later revealed, "It was just a split-second decision… I thought that was really interesting that it just broke down this wall that I didn't feel like I put up, but it was easier for me to just be honest about all that stuff."
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Posey had a positive reaction from fans, but also from his dad whom he'd never discussed his sexuality with.
"He called me saying, 'Hey, buddy. Just making sure you're okay. I don't want you to get overwhelmed or stressed out,'" he recalled on the podcast.
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"He was totally cool about it, and I was like, 'Yeah, man. I just didn't want to hold myself back, and I had an interest in trying new things,' and he was like, 'Okay, well, I understand that.' "
Posey added, "Fortunately, my dad was awesome. I've told people, kids who are worried about telling their parents my dad's reaction, and they're like, 'Okay. Well, maybe my parents won't be so hard on me if I tell them.' "
