Singer Tevin Campbell Discusses His Sexuality, Explains Why He 'Couldn't' Come Out Sooner

R&B singer Tevin Campbell is opening up about his sexuality for the first time.

The 45-year-old singer, who was discovered by JLo‘s manager Benny Medina when he was only 12, was formerly dubbed the “next Michael Jackson.”

Tevin achieved success with his first two albums and also played the role of Powerline in 1995′s A Goofy Movie. He later went on to star in Hairspray on Broadway.

Earlier this year, Tevin hinted at his sexuality in a since-deleted tweet and now he’s finally discussing his life as a gay man.

Click inside to check out his comments…

Tevin told People that when he was growing up in the music industry, “I didn’t hide anything about me. I didn’t try to act a certain way or anything. You just couldn’t be [gay] back then.”

Things started to change for Tevin when he joined the cast of Hairspray in 2004. “Being around people who were like me, LGBTQ+ people that were living normal lives and had partners. I had never seen that,” he said. “That was a great time in my life.”

Tevin was asked his thoughts on today’s young queer Black stars like Lil Nas X and Frank Ocean. He said, “It wasn’t like that in the ’90s. But I’m glad I get to see it. I’m glad that’s changing. There are a lot of kids, especially young Black boys that need to see representation. They’re not being taught to love themselves because of who they are.”

When he tweeted that simple message earlier this year, Tevin said it was just “a casual thing for me.” He added, “I love my fans, but what they think about my sexuality is of no importance to me.”

Here are all of the stars who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2022.