Popular R&B Singer Comes Out as Gay: Khalid Addresses His Fans

Khalid is opening up about his sexuality. In a series of posts to X on Friday, Nov, 22, the “Location” singer, 26, came out as gay after being outed on the platform.

The R&B singer, whose birth name is Khalid Donnel Robinson, confirmed he was a member of the LGBTQ+ community with a simple message. Taking to the social media platform, Khalid first posted a rainbow flag emoji with a set of exclamation points, adding, “there yall go. next topic please lol.” Responding to a fan who asked if he was “GEHHH,” the Grammy nominee confirmed, “I am! And that’s okay.” In a follow-up message, the “Young Dumb & Broke” singer revealed that his decision to publicly speak on his sexuality was in part sparked by him being outed.

“I got outted and the world still continues to turn,” he wrote. “Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality it ain’t nobodies (sic) business! But I am okay with me. love yall.”

Although Khalid did not specify who outed him, Rolling Stone reported that his posts came shortly after recording artist Hugo Almonte shared a series of since-deleted posts about the artists he’s had sex with. In one of the messages, he claimed that “one of your favorite gay R&B singers” once offered him drugs and “tried to set me up and lie that I broke into his house.” He also shared a since-deleted photo of himself and Khalid.

In further posts addressing his sexuality, Khalid told his fans that he “wasn’t hiding anything,” but rather his sexuality just isn’t “any of your business.” He again stated that he “was never hiding” his sexuality when one fan noted that he released an “LGBTQ anthem” in 2022 with the song “Satellite.” Meanwhile, his song “Love Lies” was the official single for the Love, Simon soundtrack, and he also spoke about the LGBTQ+ community while being honored as one of Time’s Most Influential Teens of 2017.

“America today feels like a scary place for many people, people of color, DREAMERS, women, the LGBTQ community,” he told the outlet at the time. “It’s the young people of America, the teens, who have the power to create change.”

Khalid broke out onto the music scene in 2016 when he released his hit song “Location,” which featured artists like Lil Wayne and Kehlani on the remix. Along with the follow-up “Young Dumb & Broke,” the song peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. He released his debut studio album, American Teen, in 2017, and followed it with Free Spirit in 2019. In August, Khalid released his third studio album, Sincere. The album debuted in the top 10 of Billboard‘s Top R&B Albums chart in its first week.