You may have heard the name Omar Apollo floating around lately, mostly because he was recently spotted with The Last of Us star and America’s Daddy himself, Pedro Pascal. Isn’t it weird how some people are so famous that literally just walking around with them also makes you famous? What a world.
The pair simply being photographed together has the internet rumor wheel spinning in overdrive. Are they a thing? Should they be? The photo, purportedly taken on Oct. 24, doesn’t really offer us much in the form of clues.
It’s really just Pascal holding his phone and Apollo just kind of maybe looking at it? That’s really it. The fact that Apollo is gay seems to be the main variable here. It doesn’t help that Pascal is notoriously private. However, he has been linked to a few different starlets over the years, including Maria Dizzia, Lena Headey and Robin Tunney.
Regardless, Apollo is an important figure in the gay community, and his coming out story is an important one. So who is he?
Who is Omar Apollo and what’s his coming out story?
Apollo, 26, was born Omar Apolonio Velasco. He’s a singer who performs in both English and Spanish and he started his career out on Soundcloud.
His first song on Spotify, “Ugotme,” came out of nowhere but was soon racking up more than 20,000 streams daily. In a year it would hit 15 million. His first album was similarly received. His latest EP, Live for Me, released on Oct. 6.
He’s the son of Mexican immigrants and the song was written after he came out to his family, and got a not-so-great reaction. It’s a song about being torn in two different directions, and having to decide whether to be true to yourself or true to your family.
In a press release, he said that the song is “about reliving the thoughts I had passing through my mind the winter I came out to my family, [and] receiving cold judgment, as opposed to the acceptance I felt I deserved.”
It was a reaction to the emotions of realizing he had to leave his home. In the song, he says that he never thought he’d leave, but “I still believe I can make you proud.”
This open expression of himself comes at a time in our country where certain political factions seek to pull back the rights of gay people and suppress freedom of expression. Think about Florida, where the recently passed “Don’t Say Gay” law curtails classroom instruction of gender and sexual orientation.
There’s a statistic from the nonprofit True Colors United that estimates 40 percent of homeless youth are in that situation because they don’t identify as straight.
“[Over 4] million youth experience homelessness each year, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers,” the study said.
Apollo would frequently dodge questions about his sexuality, but in 2022 things changed. He appeared at the Coachella music festival with an appearance that was teased on billboards. “Heterosexuality can be cured. Just watch Omar Apollo on Friday,” the billboards said.
In November, he told a fan on X/Twitter that he was “sucking d*** fr.” He elaborated to Billboard:
‘It’s not a choice, it’s just what I am. I’m totally aware of the privilege we have now to be ourselves and still have a career … people thought I was queerbaiting before. I wasn’t super open about my sexuality, but people were hearing things. It had a lot to do with me growing up in Indiana which is very conservative. I stopped putting pronouns in my music for a couple of years then I just realized, I can’t let other people’s opinions influence and dictate my life”.
He also shared with NPR that in the beginning of his journey toward coming out he “was trying to keep the mystique. “I don’t even care anymore. Now I’m just like, I’m very gay.”
For Apollo, his story is a way to bridge the gap between parents and their gay children. It can be used as a talking point, and it can also show by example that this is a real thing that happens to families, and it doesn’t have to be a negative thing.
By living his life the way he does, with levity and passion, he’s become a de facto ambassador for the LGBTQ+ community and a great example on how to deal with familial issues regarding gender and sexuality.
