Billy Porter is sharing his life with the world with his deeply personal memoir, Unprotected.
In the book, Porter candidly speaks about being bullied, surviving sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and making arts his safe haven. He says the purpose of the memoir wasn’t to bring anyone down, but rather to serve as an outlet for healing.
“It was about how do I write about it from my perspective without exposing other people in sort of a possible negative light,” Porter tells ABC Audio. “Like that was not something that I ever wanted this to be about. This was not for me. This was not a book about shaming anybody or calling anybody out or revenge or, you know, some sort of tell-all. It’s not that.”
Instead, the Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner says the book was written so others could learn from his experiences and know that there was hope. Porter believes that his biggest challenge wasn’t just sharing his journey and perspective on race, sexuality, art and healing — it was finding the best way to tell it without judgment.
“What I was met with oftentimes was how do I tell this story with compassion and grace,” he adds.
Unprotected: A Memoir is now available for purchase.
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