Billy Porter: Allure's first male cover star says his family sent him to therapy aged five because he was a 'sissy'

Actor says he's 'part of the first generation of gay men, ever, who get to be out, loud, and proud in the world'

Billy Porter opens up about overcoming hetero-normative masculinity in new interview (Getty)

Billy Porter has revealed that his family sent him to therapy when he was five years old because he was a “sissy” and they were "afraid".

Speaking to Allure for the February cover story, the magazine’s first-ever male cover star discussed his childhood, his recent rise to fame, and his eventual journey to self-acceptance.

But, according to the Pose actor, the journey was far from easy - as it required moving past a belief instilled in him while he was still in kindergarten and learning the importance of authenticity.

“The hetero-normative construct that masculinity is better silenced me for many years,” the 50-year-old revealed. “It was like my masculinity was in question before I could even comprehend the thought.

“I was sent to a psychologist at five years old because I was a sissy and my family was afraid.”

Elaborating on the therapy, Porter, who first made a name for himself on Broadway, explained that one of the “first memories” he has as a child is “being taken to to this white man in this big building to just talk to him for an hour every Wednesday after school”.

“That’s one of the first memories I have as a child, that something’s wrong with you and you need to be fixed based on ‘You’re not masculine enough’. I carried that with me for my whole life, until like, two and a half minutes ago. You know?” Porter said.

During the interview, the actor also discussed being told throughout his career that he was too “flamboyant”, and how the word was used to “marginalise me and pigeonhole me and keep me in a box” - before jokingly recalling that that was when he “started to want to murder people”.

According to the Grammy-award winner, it wasn’t until he happened to watch an Oprah TV special that featured Maya Angelou and Iyanla Vanzant in which they discussed the importance of shifting your mindset, that he realised he needed to be authentic to himself.

“It’s inside of your authenticity,” he said. “The very thing that everybody’s telling you is wrong is exactly what you have to be.”

Since coming to terms with who he is, which is also “part of the first generation of gay men, ever, who gets to be out loud and proud in the world,” Porter says has been able to use his newfound power of authenticity as an artist to create change.

He’s done this in part by wearing red carpet outfits such as a tuxedo gown to the Oscars or a suit complete with a train of white feathers to the Golden Globes.

“We are the arbiters,” he said of himself and fellow artists. “We’re the ones that create change because it’s creative in how we talk about it. We open hearts and minds in a different way.”

Since the cover was unveiled, people have applauded both the actor and the magazine for its decision to feature a male star for the first time in its 29-year history.

“This cover is iconic,” one person wrote on Instagram.

Another said: “Yes this is amazing!!”