Jake Shears reveals he had a relationship with 33-year-old man when he was just 16
By Will Stroude
Jake Shears revealed that he had a boyfriend almost 20 years his senior when he was just 16 years old.
The Scissor Sister frontman, who is set to strike out on his own next year with the release of his debut solo album, has opened up about the “confusing” relationship with a 33-year-old man that developed during adolescence.
“It wasn’t the best or entirely appropriate,” he recalls in Attitude’s Masculinity issue – available to download and in shops now. “I was lucky in the fact that I didn’t feel taken advantage of.
“He taught me how to play the guitar and introduced me to a lot of great music. But still, there was a lot of confusing, hurt feelings that surrounded the scenario that I could have done without.”
The 39-year-old star goes on to reveal that staff at his Seattle high school threatened to inform his parents after becoming aware of his sexuality.
He later came out to his parents at the urging of LGBT activist Dan Savage, in what Savage would later describe as the “worst advice” he had ever given.
Despite his parents’ negative reaction, Shears says his relationship with Dan and this now-husband Terry transformed his prospects as a struggling gay teenager.
“They changed my life,” he says. “They made me feel like I had something to offer.”
Read Jake’s in-depth interview in the October issue of Attitude – out now! Buy in print, subscribe or download.
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