Young filmmaker Sam Teale comes out as gay at 24 in powerful short film
Teale has turned his experiences of growing up closeted into an emotional piece of art
By Aaron Sugg
Young filmmaker Sam Teale has come out as gay at 24 in an emotional short film exploring his experience of growing up, being bullied and coming to terms with his identity.
Teale, founder and managing director of Sam Teale Productions, shared the video on social media over the weekend and hosted a family coming-out party shared yesterday (6 October).
Spanning his experiences in education, being bullied because of his sexuality, family members dismissing same-sex affection on TV and trying to “pray the gay away”, Teale has turned his experiences of growing up closeted into an emotional piece of art.
Sam Teale on growing up gay
“I used to pray, not to be normal, but to be different,” the West Yorkshire filmmaker says in the short.
Moving on to his career as a filmmaker, he thought success would “fix it”. If he finally built a career worth noting, he believed he would finally become “worthy”.
“I built a company, I travelled the world, I won awards. And I still couldn’t say three words,” he explains.
Fears about coming out as gay
In a tear-jerking exchange with his younger self, a teenage Teale asks: “Will it always feel like this?”
“It takes time, but it gets better,” his present self replies.
Fears of disappointment, shame and losing those he loves most feature heavily as Teale shares his fears about coming out. His older self reassures him: “They still love you.”
“My name is Sam and I’m gay” – Teale comes out
Speaking to camera, Teale said the problem was never saying the words “I’m gay”, but rather the fear of letting down those around him.
“The issue was I was born this way and there was never anything wrong with that,” be says. “My name is Sam and I’m gay.”
Following the short film going viral and reaching nearly 100,000 views on Instagram, Teale followed up by sharing how he came out to his loved ones.
He shared a video from his 24th birthday party, where he showed those closest to him the short film and simultaneously came out to them.