Jackson Carter, The Biggest Loser's
first openly gay contestant, discusses body image.
Carter, a 21-year-old student from
Layton, Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune that he came out at
age 14 and has been overweight for most of life.
In remarks with gay glossy Out,
Carter added that he never intended to be the show's first openly gay
contestant.
“I really went in with the agenda of
a big person, and then it just so happened that I was the first one
who was willing to talk about being gay on the show,” Carter
said. “I've never really thought much about it, because I've
always considered my sexuality a non-issue.”
“There's a lot of stigma around being
overweight when you're a gay man,” he added. “You may not feel
completely accepted by the community. You don't fit in with your
straight friends, and you don't fit in with your gay friends. It
puts you in this weird limbo. It's very hard to be overweight and
gay, so I think I have really shown a lot of overweight LGBT people
that if you're not happy with yourself then you can change it. If
you're happy with where you're at, then great. But I wasn't happy
with my body, and now I am.”
Carter said that there “seems to be a
uniform” for gay men.
“Every gay man is expected to have
the washboard abs, the nice legs, the tight butt. I didn't have any
of that. It made me feel uncomfortable to go out to a club, or to go
out and meet a guy. I've never felt good enough about myself to do
any of that. I've never been able to say this, but a lot of my
hesitation within the community – with going out to the club or
meeting guys – was mental. As soon as I got out of my own way, I
started to really accept myself for who I was. I really started to
make progress in that area.”