Donald Glover doesn’t know how to describe his sexuality: ‘Am I weird for not wanting to label it?’

Sep 30 2020
Written by Nick Duffy

Donald Glover speaks onstage during the 2019 British Academy Britannia Awards (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for BAFTA LA)

Donald Glover has spoken about rejecting labels for his sexuality.

The multi-talented star, known for acting in Community, creating Atlanta and rapping as Childish Gambino, spoke to I May Destroy You creator Michaela Coel for GQ Magazine.

The pair were discussing people “getting caught in the narrative of who they are” when Glover discussed labels and sexuality.

Donald Glover: ‘Am I weird for not wanting to label it?’

He explained: “Millennials [are] showing how we’re kind of stuck, in a weird way. Why do people online get stuck in that narrative? Because it’s safe.

“And you know what you’re going to get if you follow in the steps somebody else took.

“There is security to being identified. ‘I’m a straight white male’ or ‘I’m a gay Asian dancer’ – you can find community easily and safely, instead of being like, ‘Man, I really don’t know…’

“Most of my college years were me being like, ‘I don’t know what I like.’ I had friends who asked, ‘Are you gay?’ And I’d be like, ‘I sort of feel like I am because I love this community.’ You know? But maybe I’m not?”

He continued: “I always was trying to figure out, ‘Am I weird for not wanting to label it?’ Yet, also, I never felt completely safe in just one place.”

Donald Glover spoke about not wanting to label his sexuality (Paras Griffin/VMN18/Getty Images for BET)

Explaining the lack of safety, he continued: “One time I was really close with this guy – a white guy. I was like, ‘Oh, man, this guy’s my friend.’

“And then one day we went to the mall and some black kids ragged on his shorts. He turned to me and said, ‘There are black people and then there are n****rs.’

“My brain, my heart… It was really intense, so I go home and I tell my dad.

“To his credit, he sat there for a minute and just thought about it and then he said, ‘What do you feel? That’s the most valuable thing right now.'”

Glover has two children with his partner Michelle White.

Star Wars actor says his character is pansexual.

The actor previously backed suggestions that his Star Wars character Lando Calrissian is pansexual.

He told Entertainment Weekly in 2018: “How can you not be pansexual in space? There are so many things to have sex with.

“I didn’t think that was that weird. Yeah, he’s coming on to everybody. I feel like if you’re in space it’s kind of like, the door is open!

“It’s like, [not] only guys or girls – no, it’s anything. This thing is literally a blob. Are you a man or a woman? Like, who cares? Have a good time out here.”