Judge Smith is entering a new era. He’s at an age where he understands himself, trusts himself, and, yes, he’s not dating women.
About the latest episode of Sony Music Entertainment dinners on me Podcast hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t The star opens up about growing up in Orange County, surviving vicious bullying in high school, overcoming his queerness in his 20s, and the sense of freedom he found in his homosexuality.
“I don’t date women anymore.”
In the episode, Smith delves directly into how he understands his sexuality today and why he’s no longer interested in dating women.
“I’ll never date a woman again,” he says. “Not because I’m not attracted to them, but because I don’t like the feeling of having to be the man in the relationship.”
Smith explains that straight dating often forced her into roles she didn’t want.
“When I was dating women, I always felt like I had to be the proverbial big spoon,” he says. “What I love about homosexual relationships is that we can turn off what parts of ourselves we show to each other.”
For Smith, a queer relationship finally freed him from gender expectations.
Queer and Black people grow up in predominantly white art schools
Although Smith is now comfortable with his identity, he reveals that the road to getting there was long and complicated.
He attended an independent charter performing arts high school in Orange County, which he describes as simultaneously progressive and painfully homogeneous.
“I was like one of like 17 black kids in the whole school,” he says. “There were a lot of white kids like me in Irvine…and I started getting a lot of messages about my race and sexuality.”
Despite the school’s reputation for being gay-friendly (“the ratio of girls to boys was 11 to 1… it was mostly girls and gays”), it wasn’t always a safe environment. Some of Smith’s worst bullying came not from homophobic boys, but from mean girls who targeted him long before he understood his sexuality.
One incident still haunts him. It was an impromptu exercise in which his classmates planned a “coming out party” as a joke before he himself came out.
“I came in … and gradually I understand what it is,” he recalls. “And I’m like, ‘This is my coming out party.’ And everyone laughs. It was so messed up.”
Smith also opened up about playing straight roles in film and television. “Being a marginalized person means learning about the dominant culture,” he explains, explaining how code-switching to deepen his voice, change his posture, and adjust his energy has become second nature to him both in life and when playing straight roles in movies.
He then reflects on the emotional impact of HBO Max. generationhe calls it a healing and transformative experience. Channeling Chester’s bold, femme freedom allowed him to access a part of himself that he had missed, especially since the show was set in his real hometown of Anaheim. Smith also spoke of how warmly he was received. Now You See Me He experienced a sweet full-circle moment when he realized he grew up rehearsing the very Broadway songs that Jesse Tyler Ferguson once created.
Find the entire episode here.
Source: Gayety – gayety.com
