FLORIDA DEMOCRAT ANDREW GILLUM COMES OUT AS BISEXUAL

 

In a new interview with Tamron Hall, his first after going through a public scandal that involved drugs and accusations of infidelity, Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum has come out as bisexual.

“You didn't ask the question, you put it out there of whether I identify as gay. The answer is I don’t identify as gay but I do identify as bisexual," he said in the interview, which functioned as the season 2 debut of Hall's show. "And that is something that I’ve never shared publicly before.”

In March, Gillum was found in a hotel room where there had been a drug overdose. According to police reports he was found vomiting in the room while another man was passed out. At the time Gillum denied using any drugs and said he had "too much to drink." Days later he said in a statement that after his race for governor he "fell into a depression that has lead to alcohol abuse." He committed to rehab.

Gillum is married to his wife R. Jai Gillum and previously served as mayor of Tallahassee. In 2018, he lost Florida's gubernatorial race by less than half a percent. Throughout his career he has been a vocal in fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and equality.

“So many people just don’t understand bisexuality," R. Jai said in the joint interview. "Bisexuality is just something different. I just believe that love and sexuality exist on a spectrum. All I care about is what’s between us and what agreement we make.” One tweet says R. Jai also stated she knew that Andrew was bisexual when they married.

"Bisexuality in and of itself doesn't lead to unfaithfulness," Andrew said in the interview. "There are men who are in marriages with women who just because they're married to a woman doesn't mean they're not attracted to other women, and at any point can slip up, make a mistake, do something, and that is what it is. The same thing in bisexual relationships.

"You can be attracted to both, you got a bigger terrain out there that you have to contend with, but you can still choose to be physically with one person." 

In March, when Andrew Gillum was found by police in the hotel room, he was found with two other men, one of whom is a gay sex worker. Gillum told Hall that though he "understand[s] very well what people assume about that," he did not have a sexual relationship with either man.

Bisexual+ Awareness Week, which was co-founded by GLAAD, begins Wednesday.

SOURCE: OUT DOT COM