Gaydio presenter Nick Charles was outed to his family by an ex-boyfriend
The radio host was living in Trinidad and Tobago, where homosexuality was still illegal at the time.
Radio presenter Nick Charles has revealed he was “outed” to his family by an ex-boyfriend.
The Gaydio and Gorgeous FM host was living in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, where homosexuality was a criminal offense at the time; the bill to decriminalise same-sex relations was only passed in 2018.
“I didn’t get to come out. I was actually outed by my ex-boyfriend to my parents. He called them up and was like, ‘Hey, your son’s gay.’ Now, bear in mind, homosexuality was still illegal in Trinidad,” Nick recalls in the Attitude July issue – out now to download and to order globally.
Nick Charles strips off to talk sexuality and body positivity in the Attitude July issue (Photography: Francisco Gomez de Villaboa)
“My parents wanted to take me to church to get exorcised and all that drama. I grew up in a Catholic household, so anything that wasn’t to the book, you were being thrown to the flames of hell, basically.”
Nick, 32, adds that his former flame apologised a “couple of years ago.”
“In my head, I was, like, ‘You put me in the firing line.’ My stepdad kicked me out of the house when he found all this out, by the way, so it wasn’t an easy ride. But, as I got older, I accepted his apology,” he says.
Now based in the UK, Nick stresses that time – and, indeed, education – has been a healer for his loved ones.
Photography: Francisco Gomez de Villaboa
“It really changed the dynamic I had with my family for a long time, [but] fortunately I had relatives that used to migrate back and forth to America, and because homosexuality over there was something that was [comparatively] appreciated, when those family members came home, they’d be like, ‘You need to take it easy on Nick, because it’s very different, the world is changing,’” he explains.
“My family’s minds changed, and they love me. When I call home or Facetime, my little cousin or nephew is, like, ‘Can we talk about Drag Race?'”
Read the full interview in the Attitude July issue, out now.
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