Don't Call Matt Bomer a Gay Actor

Identifying entertainers with adjectives such as "gay actor" is regressive, Matt Bomer tells E! Online's Marc Malkin.

In an interview to publicize his new film, Magic Mike, Bomer explains to Malkin that equality will come only when the need for labels no longer exists. "What we really have to do is stop the adjective before the job title--whether it's 'black actor,' a 'gay actor' or 'anything actor,'" the actor says. "Everybody thinks that equality comes from identifying people, and that's not where equality comes from. Equality comes from treating everybody the same regardless of who they are. I hope the media and the press catches on to that because it's time to move out of 1992."

Bomer, who thanked his longtime partner, Simon Halls, and their three children in a speech last February, intends to keep his personal life as private as possible. "I never really endeavored to hide anything," the talented 34-year-old says now. "But there were times I chose not to relegate my history to the back page of a magazine, which to me is sort of akin to putting your biography on a bathroom wall."

Malkin writes that Bomer is aware of the importance of actors being out of the closet. "I had somebody from the military approach me a few weeks ago just saying how this helps people, affects people," Bomer says. "It brought me to tears."

Malkin suggests that the lives of confused young gay people might be saved by having positive role models. "I hope so," Bomer adds. "They need saving, certainly in this day and age as much as ever -- no matter how much we think we've progressed."