I was 10, sitting in church and horrified that I might be a homosexual. Whatever that word meant, I knew that I probably was one,” Herndon recalls. “And I know there’s a lot of those kids still out there. Telling my story is an opportunity to help just one of them,” says Herndon.

They can be loved by God, they can be married one day, they can have a family, they can give their parents grandkids,” Herndon adds. “And they’re not broken, they’re not sinners and they’re perfectly beautiful.

Ty Herndon

People Magazine

In an exclusive interview with People Magazine, country music star Ty Herndon has come out as gay. The wide ranging interview encompasses Herndon’s childhood, his struggle with accepting his sexual orientation, his career in the country music industry, his strong faith, and his hope for LGBT youth.

Herndon cited his faith as something that grounds him. People writes:

Both the singer and his partner are practicing Christians, and Herndon says it’s taken time to reconcile his faith with his sexuality. But he’s getting there.

“I sit on the tailgate of my pickup truck, and I meditate, and I talk to God,” he says. “That’s really all I need to know. I have a connection to something bigger than myself, and no one’s going to tell me that I can’t have it. We get to choose who we love, and that includes God, and he loves us back.”

Aside from religion, Herndon has had to redefine his place in another establishment: the country music community. As he sees it, the genre has made great strides, which was again demonstrated when Kacey Musgraves won top honors at the CMAs for her LGBT-approving hit “Follow Your Arrow.”

“There’s never been a song more affirmative of that in country music, and it’s our CMA Song of the year,” says Herndon, who “welled up in tears” during that moment.

Read more here – People Magazine.