Newly Out Ty Hendon Says Country Music Ashamed of Him

Ty Herndon

An American country singer has hit out at the country music industry, claiming it is ashamed of him because he is gay.

Billy Gillman, a double-platinum selling singer was one of two American country singers to come out this week. The other was Ty Herndon who says he had convinced himself he couldn't be openly gay and part of the country music industry. He publicly married twice but says both his wives knew he was gay and he did it to protect his public persona from anti-gay accusations.

Gillman went further, saying coming out was hard, not because he’s ashamed of being gay but because "I'm in a genre, in an industry that's ashaMusic ed of me for being me."

Chely Wright, a lesbian country singer who came out in 2010, says country music professionals themselves are not homophobic "but the fans are a different thing," she says. She believes producers and record labels steer away from the homosexuality issue for fear of antagonising the genre's fans.

 GayNZ.com