“Heroes” star Thomas Dekker came out as gay on Instagram on Thursday after being outed by “American Gods” creator Bryan Fuller.
“My sexual orientation once again came into question this week when a prominent gay man used an awards acceptance speech to ‘out’ me,” Dekker wrote on Instagram. “While he did not mention me by name, the explicit details of his reference made it easy for the public and media to connect the dots.”
Fuller served as a writer on “Heroes” and discussed the way a gay character was “het-washed” during a speech at Outfest earlier this week. “I had a brief stint on ‘Heroes’ where the gay character was ‘hetwashed’ after the actor’s management threatened to pull him from the show if he — the character, not the actor — were gay,” Fuller said. “The character became straight and the actor came out as gay.”
Dekker had previously discussed the behind-the-scenes complications surrounding his character’s sexuality, but had never publicly come out as gay.
“While it is an odd situation, I thank [Fuller] because it presents a prime opportunity for me to publicly say that I am indeed a man who proudly loves other men,” Dekker wrote. “In fact, this April, I married my husband and I could not be happier.”
“I have never lied to the press about the fluidity of my sexuality but this man claiming that I came out is not true,” he continued. “Because I have not ‘officially’ until this moment. I simply refuse to be robbed of the glorious joy that belongs to me. To say the words myself. ‘I’m gay.’ Those words are a badge of honor that no one can steal.”
Read Dekker’s full message below: