Luke Evans‘ faith made him think being gay would be a “death sentence”.
Luke Evans was raised a Jehovah’s Witness
The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ actor was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and was baptised at the age of 13 as he saw it as his final chance at salvation while struggling to come to terms with his sexuality and the church’s belief that those who were attracted to the same sex would “die at Armageddon”.
He told The Guardian newspaper about his baptism: “I thought maybe by doing that, the rest would disappear. I was so confused, and I had no one to talk to. The only thing I could talk about to people I knew was the religion. It consumed our conversation.
“I thought, well, focus on something else and hope the other thing goes away. This could take me away from my thoughts; the bad things.
“Every night in the congregation they read scriptures saying terrible things about the way I was feeling and who I was possibly turning into.
“All that was in my head was: if I don’t sort this out, I’m going to lose my mum and dad. I’m going to lose everything I’ve ever known and I’m also going to die at Armageddon, so I’m giving myself a death sentence unless I sort his out.”
The 45-year-old actor was more scared of being disowned by his parents than losing his life because of his sexuality.
He said: “The only thing that mattered to me was my mam and dad. I didn’t really care about the dying bit once I realised who I was and what I needed to do to be who I was.
“To be happy, there was only one route I could take, and my only worry was that I’d lose Mam and Dad in the small period I had before Armageddon came. I had to make this decision: either you keep lying and live this life that is making you very unhappy or you take the risk and hope they don’t cut you off and pretend that you are dead.”
When working in musical theatre in his early 20s, Luke had discussed his sexuality with The Advocate and the interview was highlighted to church elders, who called him to warn he would be kicked out if he was a “practising homosexual”.
And while he was relieved to be thrown out of the church, the ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ star still found it “painful” because his parents would have been in the congregation when the announcement of his expulsion was made.
Asked if it was a relief to be disfellowshipped, he said: “Yes, but it was painful, because I knew my mam and dad were sitting in that Kingdom Hall surrounded by people that knew them and knew me until I was 16. It must have been a horrible moment for them. I think they just went home, hugged each other and got through it.”