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(remove) Noelle Talmon | June 26, 2018 4:24 pm

Neon Trees Singer Tyler Glenn Is A Gay Pop Star With Mormon Roots

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Photo credit: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for The Trevor Project

Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees was raised a Mormon. Glenn initially chose to keep his sexuality a secret, partially because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considers gay sex a “serious transgression.” When he eventually told a producer that he was gay, his world opened up.

Glenn set out to redefine what it means to be a gay rock star. He told Rolling Stone in 2014: “I’ve gotten tired of kind-of gay or straight people being pop culture’s gay [spokespeople] – like Macklemore,” he says. “It makes me wonder, ‘Are we ready for an actual gay pop star and not just the safe straight guy saying it’s OK?'”

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