ANTM’s Marvin Cortes is Embracing Bisexuality

Life may have drastically changed for Marvin Cortes after being named runner-up on Cycle 20 of America’s Next Top Model, but it’s his charm, captivating smile, and overall sexiness that keeps him successfully working.

Since his reality television victory, Cortes has been featured in several of the world’s best fashion magazines, worked with high-class brands like Givenchy and Hugo, walked the runway for GUESS in Malaysia, and created his very own male beauty line. Even though he has several achievements under his belt, nothing can compare to what he did in early August.

In a heart-felt, 11-minute Instagram video, Cortes announced to the world that he is bisexual.

“I want to let you know that I’m coming out as openly bisexual,” he says. “I’ve been in love with both men and women. I’ve been proud to be a part of the gay community in my personal life, and I just want to share it now publicly online.”

Cortes continued by saying he has “never been happier” and looks forward to “living more of an authentic life.” Born and raised in the rough-and-tumble South Bronx with his parents and six brothers, Cortes describes his coming-out experience as a long time coming, and one he has struggled with more in family life than his day-to-day.

OFM had the opportunity to connect with Cortes and talk more about his decision to come out, embracing bisexuality, the response from his fans and family, and what he would have done if OnlyFans moved forward with banning sexually explicit content. 

What made you feel like it was the right time to open up about your bisexuality?
I was seeing a lot of other people that I identify with, like for instance, David Archuleta. He is from Honduras; I am from Honduras as well. I am first-generation—I am not sure if he is—but when I saw him come out, and it was all over the media, I was like, “OK, someone who I can finally kind of identify with in terms of the family machismo.” Like, what we deal with in terms of being a Honduran family. Honduras is the murder capitol in the world, and if you go to the country, you can just see how violent it is. It is enough to make you be closeted and feel self-hatred.

When I saw David take that step and use his platform, it meant a lot to me. He is not afraid to show who he finally is, so why am I afraid? It felt like he started a chain reaction. Like, listen, there are more of us out there. Not just in the entertainment industry, but the fashion industry, too. We need to voice that we are here and present. 

David said it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Do you feel the same?
It definitely was a weight. I struggled a lot. I could have booked two magazine covers and landed a $20,000 shoot, but at the end of the day, I would still feel like this world is not made for me. It is not really an accepting world, and these people are happy for me because I am doing well, but it’s the version of me that they are accustomed to. The version of me they want me to be. 

Since that video came out, I have never been happier. It was definitely the hardest thing for me to do in my entire life, and I want people to know, whatever you do to cope, whether it’s smoking, alcohol, or whatever, at the end of the day when you are by yourself with your thoughts, coming out immediately relieves that. It was not something I planned.

So, the overall response has been great for you?
Overall, yes. The fans have been super supportive, and I have received so many messages from people thanking me for coming out. As for my family, things have been a little bit divided with my parents. My dad does not approve of this, and he has not spoken to me since the video came out. 

Mentally, I have prepared for this, and that is why I am happy that I got to spend some time with him before the news. I look at these photos of us hanging out, like last year in Honduras, and I’m like, “I was bisexual then, and you were so accepting of me. Now, this one little piece of information has been added to the mix, and it’s this whole thing.”

Even now, I have to cater to my parents’ feelings, and this is my life. I am here dealing with this big thing, and my parents are making it about them. Being like, “I have a gay son; how could I have done this,” my dad blaming my mom for maybe watching too many telenovelas, him blaming himself for not being around, maybe he failed raising me, which is ridiculous. They taught me love, and they taught me love the right way. Now, because you taught me that you have to love everyone, it’s like, “No, we meant love women and love your brothers, but don’t fall in love with a man.” You are either going to love people or not. 

Do you think your family will eventually come around and accept this part of you or is there no hope of that happening?
My mom wants this to be a phase, so badly. I have not told her that I’ve had boyfriends, like long-term relationships. Just letting her know that I am bisexual makes her very hysterical and worried for my soul, and my dad has made it very clear that he does not approve. To him, a man should be with a woman. He is the type of guy that is watching preachers yell and scream every day because he is at that point in his life where he’s trying to guarantee his entrance into heaven. Every day, he wears a “I Love Jesus” hat, and it’s pretty intense. I have gone to church with him, and these pastors are intense. 

They are Evangelical, and it’s almost like a MAGA rally. I’m like, this is almost going to turn into let’s just go and burn these people. These thoughts are feeding my dad’s mind, meanwhile, I’m sitting behind him like, geeze. These people would turn on me in a second, and that is why I always felt the need to have a girlfriend. If I’m out and about and a girl wants to take a picture with me, I’m not shy to be like, yes, of course. Showing my dad, look, I’m one of you, but secretly, I’m like, that guy over there is cute. It’s like this dual personality having to battle it out. That has been my life for years.

What advice can you offer to those who were also taught traditional Hispanic religious values and are going through a similar situation as you?
Trust your instincts in terms of coming out if you are going to come out to religious parents. I did not come out to my parents in person, just because I knew how they would react. Even just on the phone, they were like, take that video down. Why did you put the video up? People are seeing this in Honduras. People are seeing this here. What is the purpose of it? Things like that, so you need to take control of how you want to control your narrative and how you want to come out, in the safest way possible.

You don’t want to come out, especially if you are financially dependent on these people who can kick you out or shut down your credit cards. Depending on your situation, just trust your instincts. If you know that your dad is going to try to convince you otherwise, if you know your mom is going to try to convince you otherwise and silence your voice before you even get a chance to kind of voice it, you need to do it away from them. You need to separate yourself from that situation and be who you are, but at a safe distance. Maybe it is online, maybe it’s coming out in a YouTube video, something like that because you need to do that for yourself. It’s not for your parents or anyone else. You need to find your reason.

Would you say coming out has empowered you in ways?
I definitely feel way more empowered than I ever have. I feel like I am seen now, and I don’t have to lie to myself every day or have to put up some mask. I can just be myself. It is something I never thought I would say out loud. I now feel like I can conquer the world and can do anything I want. Every little win now is a bit more special, just because this is me. I am going out in the world and showing other people that you can accomplish whatever you want to accomplish, whether it’s small or big. Being yourself, you don’t have to be this persona. Especially if you are in entertainment, you have to put up a front.

What made you audition for the show, and what have you taken away from that experience?
I was working at Zara when this casting director came and insisted that I audition, I did, and that is when Tyra Banks found me to be relatable. She was like, ‘Why do you want to be a top model?’ I was just like, “Honestly, there’s going to be girls in the house.” I wasn’t taking it seriously, and I knew I wasn’t going to get picked just because I saw how many beautiful people were in the room that probably modeled for years. 

When I got on the show, that is when things got pretty real for me. It takes much more than just taking photos to be a model. It’s the mentality of accepting yourself, and a lot of times, the photos reveal that. A lot of times, people think you’re beautiful, you should be able to take a photo, but beautiful people have a lot of pain. 

Some attractive people are just not photogenic because they are afraid of being captured and revealing their authentic self. The camera catches everything, so I was seeing a lot of that for myself on the show. It was really emotional.

In my family, we do not talk about our feelings. We don’t talk about feelings at all, and we are not supposed to have an opinion about things. We are supposed to be men. Men don’t cry. If something did bother you, you suck it up. When the show was encouraging me to talk about my feelings, there was 20 years of pent-up emotion. People were like, you cried so much, and I was like, that’s because this was the first time I was given permission to cry. So, it came out like a dam, and a lot of the times, it wasn’t about anything negative. I would cry because, look at this beautiful house I’m in. Am I worthy of being here? Why would they pick me?  

Your season was groundbreaking because it was the first time male contestants were featured. How was that?
It was definitely an honor to be considered, and it felt surreal because, again, I did not think I was worthy. I was never told; you can be a model, or you should model. No one in the South Bronx is thinking that. It’s more like, don’t get beat up, are you wearing gang colors, and be aware of your surroundings. We don’t have time to think, let me take some photos of myself. It is just not something you are thinking about. It’s not the luxury you have.

Since America’s Next Top Model, you have been featured in some of the world’s best fashion magazines, collaborated with high class brands, and even launched your own male beauty line. What more do you hope to accomplish with your career as a model?
Right now, I just want to use my platform to bring more light to other bisexual men. I am working on a cover story right now that was shot in September, which features another male model and a female model. We want to break these labels and show people that we do exist. We want to show the world that we are here, and that it’s beautiful and fashionable. Obviously, we want to bring both worlds together. If you are a singer, obviously, you can sing about it, but if you are a model, then you can inspire people with whatever craft you have, and I encourage people to do that. 

With my beauty line, I am finding young people to create a line with them, instead of this concept and business model of we’re going to pay you per post, or we use you for the month and that’s it. I want to build with our influencers, and we want to offer them equity in the company because we want to grow with these people that are young, and especially LGBTQ. They don’t really have a financial opportunity. When I came out of Top Model, we were all on our own. As soon as you come off the show, you get all this fame and engagement, but you don’t really know how to make money from that. Likes on social media don’t pay your rent, unless you monetize it, which is what these sponsored posts do, but again, it is not sustainable.

We want to build, design, shoot, and market you, and invest in that, and basically allow these young people to create an income source for themselves that follow them wherever they go, instead of just for a month or two. At that age, making another $5,000 a month in sales, or $10,000 a month in sales, is really life changing for them.

You also started an OnlyFans page because of the increasing amount of censorship on social media. What were your thoughts when the platform said it planned to ban sexually explicit content?
I was disappointed more with the fact that they were willing to turn down their $250 million a month revenue system. I don’t think anyone is on the platform to watch someone cook [laughs]. Maybe they are, but I feel like we are in a society that is trying to censor you the most and trying to put you in a box. Be this way, be however we want you to be, or we are going to kick you to the curb. The announcement felt like a slap in the face.

If I do a shoot on Instagram and my nipple is exposed, and it gets flagged a couple times, they will completely ban your account. It really is an abuse of power, in my opinion. A lot of these fans, once they are following you on here, that is what they are used to. It is hard to get another quarter of a million people to follow you again. If OnlyFans followed through with banning explicit content, I don’t know if they would have been able to sustain. That is basically what it was founded upon. 

I am happy that decision was quickly reversed. They were going to shoot themselves in the foot.
I agree, and I think a lot of social media agrees with that. It’s supposed to be a safe place. Once I was OnlyFans and what it was, I was like, this is so empowering. It is great for people who want to be free and express themselves. I can show my gay side on the bisexual spectrum because it’s one thing to come out, but it’s another to see it for yourself. It is beautiful and normal, and for people to see that, I think it’s important. Seeing these people express themselves online is obviously entertaining, but at the same time, I feel it created a safe space for sex workers. 

Would you have kept your page if the change happened or would have found another platform?
I planned to continue my page and basically abide by their rules and guidelines. Obviously, if they did not allow explicit content, I would have just engaged with my fans, but the plan is to use my OnlyFans page to show explicit content [laughs]. That’s what they want to see. I love my fans on there, and they have asked me to do certain things. At first, I’m like, I don’t know if I could do that, but then I get over it. It pushes me. I have been pushed by fans to do many things. Like, I would do that in private, so why not post it online? We live in a world where we put ourselves out there, and we are basically exhibitionists. I just see this as another part of yourself, and people enjoy it. 

In addition to OnlyFans, follow Cortes on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. 

Photos by Tyler Chick