Is Tyler, the Creator gay? The rumors, explained

Gay rumors are the weird new online trend, it would seem, as theories about everyone from Hugh Jackman and Will Smith to George Clooney and Jordan Peele pop off among fans.

Even those with established records, regarding their sexuality, are coming under scrutiny, as increased visibility among LGBTQ+ people leads to an uptick in queries. As such, each new celebrity who trends — even if its due to an upcoming release or unrelated controversy — faces the same question from the online masses. Today, Tyler, the Creator is in the hot seat, and — unlike many of the men listed above — rumors about his sexuality are actually pretty rampant. The question of whether or not the 32-year-old rapper is gay has cropped up frequently over the years, and he’s given us a pretty clear answer.

Tyler, the Creator’s sexuality

If you’re like me, and frequented Vine during the app’s heyday, you know Tyler, the Creator — who’s full name is Tyler Okonma — best from the hilarious snippets he littered the internet with around a decade back. I hear “uh, I’m not finished” and that birthday gift tangent in the back of my mind any time his name is mentioned, but many of his fans are far more familiar with his work on the music scene. Okonma’s a talented rapper, with several award wins under his belt and a legion of fans who line up each time he announces a new release.

Those fans are likely well familiar with Okonma’s relationship history. He’s been clear, in his music, that he’s enjoyed past relationships with both men and women. In “Sorry Not Sorry” he apologizes to “the guys I had to hide” and the “girls I had to lie to,” a set of lyrics that led many to believe he was speaking to the men he dated before he was comfortable going public, and the women he used as shields from the public eye. Its far from the first reference he’s made to having relationships with men in his music, and as far back as 2015 he’s described himself as “gay as f*ck.”

This same sentiment is echoed across a number of interviews, lyrics, and skits from Okonma. He commonly references his gay tendencies, and nods to previous gay experiences. He’s not always associated with men, however, leading some people to view Okonma as bisexual, rather than gay. The man himself appears to be perfectly happy somewhere in the middle, with an eye on beautiful people regardless of gender. He’s indicated as much in other songs, including “Wilshire,” which contains the lyrics “I could f*ck a trillion b*tches every country I done been in/Men or women, it don’t matter, if I seen ’em, then I had ’em.”

With this information in hand, it seems reasonably safe to assume that Okonma is bisexual, or at least very open in his sexuality. He certainly doesn’t restrict himself to women — and, in fact, appears to prefer men — but I wouldn’t go so far as to broadly label him as anything. The man knows who he is, and the rest of us should simply be happy that he’s willing to share his music, and flawless humor, with the world.