Queer Eye's fashion guy Tan
France revealed in a recent interview that despite being married to a
man he only recently came out as gay to a sibling.
The 35-year-old France was born in
England to Pakistani parents. He currently lives in Salt Lake City
with his husband Rob France, a self-described Mormon cowboy.
“I only came out to one of my
siblings at the start of the year before Queer Eye launched,”
France told Shortlist, “and I'm a 35-year-old who already
has a husband. Sexuality can be difficult to articulate and we have
to be patient and compassionate.”
He added that he battled racism in
coming out.
“There’s no right way to be gay.
That’s something I think it’s really important to stress. There’s
no right or wrong way to come out, either. Gay men can sometimes feel
ashamed or chastised when the messaging is ‘Be out and proud!’ or
‘Just come out’. It’s not that easy. It certainly wasn’t for
me,” he said.
“But being brown and gay made coming
out harder. If I were Caucasian, I would have found the process
easier. I have to battle so many issues, and the biggest is racism.”
“My sexuality and being a person of
color are both secondary to who I am as a person,” France
added.
The second season of Queer Eye
is currently streaming on Netflix.