Olly Alexander the lead singer of Years & Years and LBGT+ Advocate spoke out about sex and relationships at Student Pride’s sex education panel today in London, alongside trans activist Paris Lees and National AIDS Trust’s Deborah Gold.
He talked about his sex education and how he was left clueless as a teenager “I fell in love with a guy a year above me at school. He was straight. I think a lot of straight guys experiment at school, I don’t think it means anything.” “I thought he was in love with me too… but it turns out nothing came of it. We used to fool around at [age] 14 or 15.”
Alexander mentioned how at that age he wasn’t given any proper sex education and how older guys were taking advantage of him. “I had a few experiences with older guys, I realize now that I was taken advantage of,” he said. “I was desperate for the attention, the relationship. I was desperate for education.”
The frontman of Years & Years said the first time he found out about gay sex was from a show named Queer As Folk.
“Gay people didn’t exist in our sex education. I had no idea how men even had sex with men. The first time I saw it was on Queer As Folk, and when a guy spat into the hand I couldn’t believe it. It just wasn’t spoken about. It was hidden away. You could only guess just by talking with friends.”
Due to his lack of sex education Alexander confessed that in his early twenties he was afraid of getting HIV and he thought sex would kill him.
As for now, Olly Alexander has supporting fans all over the world and is an idol to many for his courage to be so open about his sexuality and relationships, but even him is afraid sometimes, “When I’m holding a guy’s hand, and I really like him, and we’re in public. I’m still scared. I still look around,” he said. “I still have a lot to work on.”
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