Chris Martin Admits He Used To Be 'Very Homophobic'

Chris Martin rarely gives interviews, but when he does he really opens up!

The Coldplay frontman spoke with Rolling Stone in advance of the band’s upcoming eighth album, Everyday Life — and ended up talking about his history with homophobia!

Video: SNL’s Super Gay Sketch Leaves Sara Lee So Confused

The Exeter native explained it was in his teen years when the faith he was brought up with gave him anxiety due to his confusion about his own budding sexuality:

“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**ked for eternity’ and I was a kid discovering sexuality. [I thought,] ‘Maybe I’m gay, maybe I’m this, maybe I’m that, I can’t be this.'”

Since his religious upbringing told him being gay was wrong, the thought he could be made him more angry at it.

Seems like something a lot of gay men raised religious go through. If you’ve ever wondered why so many homophobic politicians turn out to be secretly gay, this is a pretty decent explanation actually…

“I was terrified and then I walked a bit funny and I was in a boarding school with a bunch of quite hardcore kids who were also gone for their thing and, for a few years, they would very much say, ‘You’re definitely gay,’ in quite a full-on manner, quite aggressively telling me that and it was weird for me for a few years.”

Word to the not-so-wise: you can tell you’re gay by the being sexually attracted to men!

Lil’ Chris Martin didn’t understand that and tortured himself over it for a long time. He says he thought:

“‘I don’t know [if I’m gay] and even if I am, I can’t be because it’s wrong… If I am, I can’t be.'”

Martin says that schism between thinking he might be gay and thinking it was this great sin caused “terrible turmoil” for him.

Then it just… stopped.

“About 15 and a half, I don’t know what happened, I was like, ‘Yeah, so what?’ and then it all just stopped overnight. It was very interesting.”

How does Chris account for the evolution? Mostly “just growing up a bit”:

“[I had] a bit more exposure to the world, thinking, ‘A lot of my heroes are gay,’ or whatever. Whatever they are, it doesn’t really matter. So what that did was ease a big pressure and then made me question, ‘Hey maybe some of this stuff that I’m learning about God and everything — I’m not sure if I subscribe to all of this particular religion.'”

Amen!

If only more young people would experience that moment of clarity.

What do YOU think of Chris Martin’s admission??

[Image via ABC/Danny Clifford/Hottwire.net/WENN.]