Lil Nas X opened up about his journey to coming out as gay in an interview with Gayle King set to air on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning.
In a preview of the sit-down released Monday, the rapper told Gayle King that he “knew” growing up that he was gay. “Especially during my teenage years, I would just pray, pray and pray,” he said. When King asked what he prayed for, he responded, “That it was a phase.”
He added that his new level of fame gave him an advantage when publicly coming out. “Me being in this position, it’s easy for me,” said the rapper. “But some little boy 10 miles from here, it’s not gonna be good for him.”
The “Old Town Road” rapper later told King that while he knew his story would help others in the process of coming out, “there’s still a lot to be done” when it comes to how society treats the LGBTQ community.
“I think it’s gonna always help,” he said of public figures coming out. “We still have a long way to go, because it’s not like everybody is messing with me now. ‘Cause of course somebody who’s listening to me in school right now, it’s like, ‘You’re gay, cause you’re listening to him.’ There’s still lot to be done, of course. But I do believe it’s helping.”
Lil Nas X publicly came out on Twitter during Pride Month 2019. In a post about his song “C7osure,” he tweeted, “Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more. but before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure.”
Hours later he posted a follow-up tweet to confirm that he came out. “Deadass thought I made it obvious,” he captioned a photo of his album’s artwork that features the colors of a rainbow.
Watch Lil Nas X’s interview with King below.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.