Shawn Mendes says he’s still ‘figuring out’ his sexuality

Shawn Mendes has once more addressed ongoing rumours regarding his sexuality.

During his For Friends And Family Tour stop in Colorado (October 28), the Canadian singer took a moment to discuss viral lyrics from his new song ‘The Mountain’, which say: “You can say I like girls or boys, whatеver fits your mould.”

Mendes pointed out to the crowd that “people have been talking about [my sexuality]” ever since he was “really young”.

He remarked, “I think it’s kinda silly because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.”

“It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me, something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover.”

For Mendes, the creation of ‘The Mountain’ was “very personal” as it seemed like the right time for him to address the rumours “in a way that felt close to my heart”: “I’m just speaking freely now because I just wanna be able to be close to everyone and be in my truth.”

As ‘Gay Times’ writes, Mendes received enthusiastic applause from the audience as he explained that the truth about his sexuality is that he’s “just figuring it out like everyone”, adding: “I don’t really know sometimes and I know other times. It feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that.

“I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. Yeah, that’s all I really wanna say about that for now.”

Throughout the years, Mendes has been compelled to address speculation surrounding his sexuality on several occasions.

In 2018, he revealed to Rolling Stone that memes and ‘jokes’ about him being closeted, along with constant scrutiny over his gestures, led him to rewatch interviews to evaluate his mannerisms.

He expressed, “In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone — like a girl — in public, to prove to people that I’m not gay.”

“Even though in my heart I know that it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me.”

The following year, he described the rumours as “hurtful” in an interview with The Guardian. In 2020, speaking with the same publication, he mentioned a “desperation” for him to come out as gay, calling it “ridiculous”.

He said, “I got upset because I know people who are gay who haven’t come out and I know the suffering they experience because of that. It’s just completely ignorant and insensitive of people to be on that shit.”