Acknowledging He's Gay, Greek Singer George Perris Feels Emancipated

Greek singer George Perris opens up about his sexuality, People Magazine reports. "I do not consider this a coming out, in the sense that I never went into a closet," Perris, 38, says in a Zoom interview from his home in Athens in early March to the magazine. "I never hid my life. I've always lived the way I wanted to; it's just that I didn't have the courage to talk about it publicly."

With his new album, appropriately entitled "No Armor" out this week, the singer says he is ready to live authentically in the public eye. "I'm relieved, I'm happy, and I'm proud of myself that I'm able to do this," Perris says.

Perris tells People that he knew he was gay early on but felt shame to conform to heteronormative pressures. "I grew up believing that there was something wrong about me because, at the time, when you were a kid in the '80s or '90s, you came to believe there was something wrong with you," he says.

"Back then, people would always use words like 'tolerant' or 'open-minded,' and I always hated those terms because I think they hide a defiance; there's contempt to it. I don't want you to tolerate me. I want you to accept me because we're 100 percent equal."

Nor did he see much queer representation, but he saw a turning point when George Michael came out in 1988 when he was 15, which he saw as a "revelation." He says, "I didn't know you could have a superstar who was an extremely talented and incredible artist and a beautiful man and everything and he was gay, and he was living a normal life."

Perris still felt cultural norms that kept him in the closet. "It took me a while to accept it." Once he did in his early 20s, he began telling his friends, then his family. "There was a little bit of backlash, but everyone was fine, and they all accepted it."

He launched his professional music career at 18. In the 20 years since, he has found his niche, recording three English-language albums and filmed three PBS concert specials that have reached 160 million total viewers, People writes.

He wanted to make his private life public, but was told it would be a huge mistake. "A lot of people told me, 'You shouldn't come out. You shouldn't talk about that publicly. It'll destroy your career.'"

"I have nothing to hide,"�he tells People, and while not commenting on his relationship status, he did say he wanted to start a family someday.

Perris is active in philanthropy as a new�UNICEF�ambassador�focused on addressing child abuse; he also works with the scholarship group the�Horatio Alger Association. And he hopes to make a difference by sharing his own story.

"There's a lot of people out there that don't have that luxury," Perris says. "Even today, being gay is a cause for death in so many parts of the world. I think that it's my responsibility, as a human being but also as an artist and a public figure, to speak about this."

As for his new album, he says: "I felt the need to go back to my roots. I realized that the only music that I wanted to hear was the songs that shaped me, the songs that made me who I am. These run from Billie Billie Eilish's "My Future" and the Joni Mitchell-written "Both Sides, Now" to ABBA's "I Have a Dream" and "Somewhere" from�"West Side Story." And he also honors his Greek roots with arrangements that feature Mediterranean instruments. "My only goal in music has always been to create emotion and to move people. For me, this is my healing album."

He also feels his opening up about his sexuality will bring him closer to his fans. "I've never hidden or pretended to be someone else, ever. So I'm sure [me being gay] is not going to be a shock to them or anything. But I feel like my relationship with my fans, my tribe, we just came a step closer. That's what I feel that this will be because they will have the full picture of who I am, free and completely open."

Adds Perris: "This is the final step to my emancipation; now I'm fully emancipated to be the man that I want to be."