Nick Jonas: Stage Brother

 Did anyone explain to you that some boys like boys and some girls like girls?
I don’t think that conversation needed to be had. I was totally aware, I understood what it meant, and I was totally fine with it. It didn’t confuse me, because I knew it was all about love. I was raised in a really open home where the policy was love.

Yet it was an evangelical Christian home, and your father was a preacher.
My upbringing was faith-based, but we believed you should love all others as you want to be loved, because everyone should be treated equally. That’s helped me have an understanding of people on different journeys and in different walks of life. At the end of the day, we’re all the same, because we all want to be loved. As long as love as the key, we’re in good shape.

When a number of LGBT blogs posted pictures of you hugging antigay Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren in 2010, some readers wondered if you might share his beliefs on issues like gay marriage.
My friends are my friends, and people that I’m acquainted with don’t necessarily share the same opinions as I do, and that’s how I’ll put that. My thoughts on gay marriage are that everyone has the right to love and be loved, and that’s the position I take.

A wholesome, conservative image has somewhat defined the Jonas Brothers; at the height of the group’s popularity, the media focused a lot on your purity rings, for example. As the three of you get older and branch out into other individual interests, would you like to distance yourself from that image?
I don’t think we separate ourselves from that, but my brothers and I have come into our own as men in the past few years, and that’s played a major part in who we are and how we’ve carried ourselves. It’s important for us to remember that we have values and morals, but each of us have taken the responsibility that we have as a man to be exactly who we’re supposed to be, whatever that means for us as individuals. We still have a good image; however, we’ve each made choices that have defined who we are as people. I’m comfortable with who I am as a man now, and I’m blessed to be in the position I am in life.

Gay boybanders and pop idols rarely come out at the height of their popularity. If a Jonas Brother came out, what impact might it have on your career?
The amazing thing about our fans is that they’re incredibly supportive about everything that we do, but I have to separate us from the equation because the three of us aren’t gay. If someone in our position came out, I’d hope that support would carry over and that their fans would love them just the same.

How to Succeed’s Radcliffe and Criss have both supported the Trevor Project and the It Gets Better campaign. Would you like to get involved with the cause?
Absolutely. Once I join the show, I plan to do all I can on a few different efforts, including Trevor Project and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. I want to inspire all young people, whether they’re diabetic, being bullied, or just having a hard time at home. Dealing with diabetes has been tough, but I’ve also been so blessed, and I feel I can give real encouragement and inspiration to young people dealing with similar issues.