Heroes star comes out as gay and reveals he is married
An actor known for roles in ‘Heroes’ and ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’, has come out as gay.
Thomas Dekker, 29, wrote an open letter saying someone had tried to out him, referring to a speech made by exec Bryan Fuller at Outfest.
Fuller did name the actor, but details matched up with a mysterious row that saw Dekker leave the show.
As well as revealing his sexual orientation in the open letter published on Instagram, Dekker also revealed that he recently got married.
He wrote: “My sexual orientation once again came into question this week when a prominent gay man used an awards acceptance speech to ‘out’ me. While he did not mention me by name, the explicit details of his reference made it easy for the public and media to connect the dots.”
Fuller had said: “The gay character was het-washed after the actor’s management threatened to pull him from the show if [the character] were gay.”
Dekker addressed the controversy back in 2007, writing on MySpace: “I, nor my management have ever had any kind of problem with creating a gay character. To me acting is about being prepared to play all kinds of roles and it is an honor and a challenge to portray ANYTHING that comes my way.
“What transpired on Heroes is something far more complicated than anyone being “afraid” to make Zach homosexual.”
He continued: “The character that I created in the beginning of the show, a process I take very seriously, was based on Zach being an outcast who had a burning love for Claire, a crush that drew him to her and affected every ounce of his self-esteem around her.
“I created the character that way because it was WRITTEN IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT that he was in love with Claire.
“I was not informed in the beginning of the series, of any planned character arc, because I was told there wasn’t one.
“What ensued later was a combination of miscommunication, confusion, surprise and last minute decisions, not a knee jerk reaction from me or my team.”
The actor insisted that “me leaving Heroes has NOTHING to do with this gay controversy”, and that he had been cast in the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The show did later feature a lesbian storyline, with Claire experimenting with her sexuality.
Hayden Panettiere said that she had asked for the storyline to be included.
Related: Star Trek TV series casts major gay character
