known that I was different, but I didn’t put together that I was gay until late elementary school or early middle school. It was a challenge, especially growing up in Tennessee, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for me to find support there. But I am here now and loving it! That is part of what I think is so important about your story. It’s a good thing for LGBT kids who are struggling to see someone coming out of difficult circumstances with such success and grace. Did you have much support when your coming out process started? I had a friend who I told early on when I was in
eighth grade, a best friend I would talk to and she was very supportive. As far as my parents go, I came out to them when I was 15, that unfortunately didn’t go so well. I was sent to a psychologist, to Christian coun- seling to “fix” me, with the goal of making me straight. How did you manage? Can you share a bit about what that was like for you? I had to pretend to be straight in order to stay in their
house and it was difficult to hang out with friends or to have them over because my parents would always assume that they were gay. So I pretended to be straight, until just before my 18th birthday. I sat down with them and said, “Look, I am gay, there is nothing I can do about it. Accept me for who I am or I guess you can’t really have a son.” Their response was something like, “We’re not go-
ing to have that in our house, it is sinful and it would be sinful for us to have you here living under our roof. When you turn 18 you will be legal and you can leave.” So when I turned 18, I was asked to leave. I don’t care how many times I hear this story from other LGBT young people, that kind of rejection still stuns me. Yes, it’s frustrating, but really what can you do? You
can’t force them to change. I guess that is true. Aggravating, but true. Can you share a bit about what you did after being asked to leave? I stayed with friends in Florence, Alabama, which is
about an hour drive south of where I grew up. Early on there, I got caught up in the wrong crowd for a bit, made some mistakes and had to learn some hard lessons. After that, I moved in with a friend from high school
and her family. They were very supportive, loving and accepting. From that point on I decided that I wanted to pursue music and singing. I went to school at the University of North Alabama for a bit and then at Middle Tennessee State University to study vocal per- formance. I had about a year’s worth of vocal training throughout that process. After that, I decided to audition forAmerica’s Got Talent and that brought me to where I am now. Let’s talk about the America’s Got Talent process, what was that like for you? I actually auditioned once before and didn’t make
it on at that point, which was a little discouraging for me. But my boyfriend [Demetrius Antoine] pushed
34 RAGE monthly | DECEMBER 2013 | DECEMBER 2013 Jonathan Allen with his friend and mascot Labradoodle Lucy.
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