Jake Zyrus opens up about being ‘born in the wrong body’ to international men’s magazine GQ
Jake Zyrus, even at the onset of his rise to stardom, has always known that he was “born in the wrong body.”
The Filipino singer recently opened up about coming to terms with himself to international men’s magazine GQ, which put the spotlight on artists and activists who are taking part in the fight for trans rights around the world.
On Instagram, he shared some photos from his GQ shoot and expressed his gratitude to “those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom of expression and acceptance.”
Jake’s claim to fame involved his participation in singing contest Little Big Star in 2005 as well as Korean talent show Star King a few years later, which eventually led to guest appearances on renowned international shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
In his chat with the publication, Jake explained: “When I was performing [Celine Dion songs], behind closed doors, I would imagine myself singing Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Justin Bieber.”
“I would sing that in my bathroom,” he continued, sharing that he’s now into the likes of Frank Ocean and Zayn Malik.
While he already felt he was “born in the wrong body” at the time, he still didn’t know much about transgender people or what it really meant. He only started becoming more aware of it at 20 years old, when someone detailed American actor Chaz Bono’s journey as a trans man to him. “After doing my research on him, it was an ‘aha’ moment for me. I realized that I was trans, too.”
He first came out as a lesbian in 2013, and then introduced himself as a trans man in 2017.