Tyler Blackburn may be known for his role in Pretty Little Liars, but he’s anything but; the actor recently spoke openly and proudly about his sexuality in an interview with Advocate.

Blackburn will play queer in Roswell, New Mexico: a reboot of the CW alien teen drama.

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He told them, “I got bullied a lot by other boys, and I just felt like my soul was slowly being taken from me.”

“You form a shell around yourself for protection. And you start to make decisions based off of things outside of what you want and who you are. I stopped doing so many of the things that I loved doing because it felt safer. That right there is the outcome of oppression. When you literally have to mute who you are in order to feel safe. That’s soul-crushing.”

But Blackburn refuses to let bullies control his modern mindset, claiming he wants to be “as happy, as free as possible”.

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Long Day in my ?- out now on Spotify!!! #linkinbio

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“I’m queer. I’ve identified as bisexual since a teenager,” he told The Advocate.“I just want to feel powerful in my own skin, and my own mind, and in my own heart.”

Due to both the pressure to be straight, and the erasure he felt as a bi man from the gay community, Blackburn suppressed the full extent of his attraction to men until Pretty Little Liars wrapped up recently, confessing that he: “really allowed [himself] to go there and not just wonder about it or lust over it, but experience that vulnerability and experience the emotional aspect of what it is to be bisexual.”

Sounds like he’s really *opening up* to male affection. Perhaps it was a guy who snapped this peachy moment…

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Making myself right at home ?

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