YouTuber Logan Paul recently was criticized for saying he and his Impaulsive Podcast co-host Mike Mejlak intended to “go gay” for the month of March.
“It’s male-only March. We’re going to attempt to go gay for just one month,” Paul explained.
After people slammed Paul for insinuating that being gay is a choice, Paul backtracked on his “poor choice of words” and apologized.
Paul invited Outserve founder Josh Seefried on his podcast to discuss the issues with his comment. Seefried publicly called out Paul for his statement on Twitter.
Obviously to @LoganPaul being gay is some sort of punchline to a joke. Make sure to tell that to youth that kill themselves because they struggle with being gay. Shame on him once again. https://t.co/7HE1t6AxC9
— Josh Seefried (@JoshSeefried) January 11, 2019
“Did my comment offend you personally?” Paul asks.
Seefried says ‘absolutely” and explains that Paul has a lot of influence over his young fans.
“You are a person that sets the tone of what is acceptable to make a joke of, and so when youth watch you and say ‘hey, Logan Paul made this joke’ that’s what kind of legitimizes bullying in school,” Seefried told Paul.
Paul asks, “So if I want to hook up with dudes for a month in March, I can’t do that?”
Seefried replies there’s a difference between seriously exploring your sexuality and making a joke.
“Are you making that as a joke, or are you being legitimate? If you genuinely want to experiment with men, that’s a different thing than saying, ’Hey, I’m gonna go gay for a month,’ making a joke,” Seefried says.
Paul also explained that he never meant to insinuate being gay is a choice.
“Going gay is not a choice. That is not what I implied by saying that. That is the narrative that the media decided to run with. I’ve never thought that. I think who you are attracted to is innate to who you are, that it’s genetic and that’s that. I’ve thought that my whole life,” Paul says.
Paul continued that he is a “pro gay dude” who he feels has “a magnifying glass on me now” because of past controversies. In 2018, Paul made headlines for filming a suicide victim in Japan.
Seefried ended the podcast imploring Paul to do “better.”
