Charlie Carver Gay: ‘Teen Wolf’ Heartthrob Confirms His Sexuality Via Heartfelt Explanation On Instagram

Sorry, ladies. Charlie Carver of Desperate Housewives and Teen Wolf has come out as gay on Instagram.

The young Teen Wolf star eased into his story by talking about a quote he had taken a screenshot of about a year earlier. It read, “Be who you need when you were younger.” Charlie found himself constantly looking at the photo, wondering why it was felt so relevant to his own life.

Recently, Carver had a realization about why the photo had been haunting him. With his role on Teen Wolf, he had been given an excellent position to bring attention to the struggles of people who felt different. Charlie, thinking back to a time when he had felt the same, realized that he needed to use his position of notoriety to come out as a role model for young gay men.

“In my silence, I’ve helped decide for to you too that to be gay is… inappropriate for a professional career in the Arts (WHAAA???) So now, let the record show this- I self-identify as gay. And does that really matter anymore? As a young man, I needed a young man in Hollywood to say that- and without being a d**k about it, I owe it to myself, more than anything, to be who I needed when I was younger.”

The way Carver speaks about his journey to coming out is typical of many of the stories that currently openly gay actors have revealed. Charlie speaks about being embarrassed of not doing it earlier, but he also speaks of a time when it was easy for the young star to cover it up. With his success of Teen Wolf, it seemed like an incredibly unwise move for Carver to declare himself off the market to the show’s female audience — and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be seen as a gay actor anyway.

“Even the words ‘Coming Out’… implied being greeted with attention, attention for something I would prefer to be implicitly just Human, an attribute or adjective that was only part of how I saw my whole self. I did not want to be defined by my sexuality.”

As time went on, Charlie became increasingly uncomfortable when the distinction between public and private life. While he still wanted to retain a certain amount of distance from the public eye, Carver also began to ask himself why he was making those decision. In the end, he decided that coming out as gay would do more good to the world than harm to his own career.

Charlie made a point to be inclusive in his own “leaving the closet” message. For many, it’s not as easy to share your sexuality publicly, either because of the place that you live in or family members who might not be immediately accepting of your assertion. Recognizing that, Carver said that young men who see themselves in him on Teen Wolf don’t necessarily have to declare their orientation now, and the same goes for other members of the LBGTQ community.

“I was born with an immense amount of privilege, growing up in a family where my orientation was celebrated and SAFE… I would never encourage anyone to Come Out only to find themselves in harm’s way – a disproportionate number of Homeless American (and Global) Youth are members of the LGBTQ community who were kicked out of their families and homes out of hate and prejudice.”

What do you think of Charlie Carver’s decision to come out as gay, Teen Wolf fans?

[Image via Larry Busacca/Getty Images]