Actor Kal Penn of Designated Survivor and Harold and Kumar fame is coming out as gay, reports Out.
Penn announced his engagement to his partner of 11 years, Josh, in his new memoir, You Can’t Be Serious.
He talked about it in an interview with People.
“I’m really excited to share our relationship with readers. But Josh, my partner, my parents, and my brother, four people who I’m closest to in the family, are fairly quiet. They don’t love attention and shy away from the limelight,” he said to People.
Penn says he wanted to tell his story in his memoir in an “authentic” manner “that makes you feel like you really get to know me” while still protecting the privacy of those close to him.
“Figuring out the narrative [in the book], of how to respect who they really are, with telling my story — that includes: my work life, both in Hollywood and DC, it includes my love life with Josh and how we met, it includes my parents, to the extent that I’m willing to share stories about their upbringing,” he says.
He appeared on CBS Sunday Morning and described himself as being “matter of fact” of telling his story in the book.
“I mean, you know, Josh and I’ve been together for 11 years,” said Penn. “We had our 11th anniversary in October. So, for me and writing about it, I think the tricky thing was, you’re right, it’s very matter-of-fact in our lives, and when you’re the son of Indian immigrants who says that you want to be an actor, the chaos that that creates in your family and your community, will trump anything else, always.”
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