PrideHouseLA Founder Spotlight: Garrett Clayton
Known for his charm and boyish good looks, Garrett Clayton is an actor and dancer who is rapidly climbing the ladder of success.
Starting his career by appearing in a flurry of small, supporting roles, Clayton hit the big time after landing the role of Tanner in Disney Channel’s hit Teen Beach Movie franchise. In 2016, he became a household name in the LGBTQ community by portraying real-life adult film star Brent Corrigan opposite Christian Slater and James Franco in the dark, biographical film King Cobra.
Although the star played gay, it was not until August 2018 when he publicly came out and revealed he was in a relationship with screenwriter Blake Knight. Unfortunately, like several LGBTQ entertainers before him, Clayton faced backlash and says Hollywood tried to force him back into the closet.
Now, living life out and proud, Clayton is an outspoken advocate who hopes to help others live their authentic truths and is one of the four founders of the rainbow-emblazoned TikTok content house PrideHouseLA. Along with Mollee Gray, Jeka Jane, and Kent Boyd, the house gained recognition after dancer and social media personality Jojo Siwa used the platform for her own coming out. PrideHouseLA acts as a central hub for dancers and influencers to show support for LGBTQ artists and fans in a safe and inclusive environment.
OFM caught up with Clayton to talk more about PrideHouseLA, the impact he hopes the online platform will make on others, and what needs to be done for Hollywood to take LGBTQ entertainers more seriously.
Can you begin by telling us why you wanted to start PrideHouseLA with Mollee, Jeka, and Kent, and how you were approached about it?
Before the pandemic, we were not able to see each other as often because of conflicting schedules, but when everything stopped and TikTok became a thing, we were all on the app, we wanted to collaborate together. Through that, people recognized that we were all in the LGBTQ community, and the longer we were on it, the more we realized that there was no LGBTQ content house. We have the community on this platform, but it didn’t feel like we had a content house that represented our group or our, what we like to call “Pride Fam.”
Because we are all out and proud, we try to be a very welcoming group to people of all communities. It is very important for us to learn about people from different walks of life. We try to bring the kind of love, closeness, and acceptance to the online space. That was kind of how PrideHouseLA was born, and then, two weeks later, we were collaborating with Jojo Siwa, and that just sparked the whole thing. Everyone recognized us as PrideHouse. We had just started, but we did not realize how it was going to blast off so quickly. That was very exciting.
What do you hope viewers take away from PrideHouseLA’s content?
We hope viewers know that we are trying to spread joy, love, and positivity. We are completely proud of our differences, and we want everyone to feel comfortable. This is a safe space for the online community because there is a lot of aggression, difficult conversations, and predatory behavior out there. We want to be a safe space for young people and allies so they can learn about our community and ask questions. We want everyone to feel like this is an amazing place to go forward as a community.
What does Pride mean to you?
Obviously, it is about acceptance and joy, but it is also about self-love and loving others. Finding ways to support not just the people in your immediate vicinity spectrum. There is a lot of love to give, and I think people are sometimes more focused on creating hateful conversations instead of spreading positive dialogue in helping each other come together in a more productive way. So, Pride to me is that joy of learning and becoming a brighter, more awake human. Finding ways to support people in different communities that you love.
What is a future goal you would like to see PrideHouseLA achieve?
Going forward, we want to bring in new members from different communities. Kent, Mollee, and I are white, and we met each other through Teen Beach Movie. The pandemic made it hard to bring in new people, so we are very cognizant of bringing in new members from different communities, minority communities, body shapes, backgrounds. We want people to feel like we are representing our community fairly with this house. We are excited because it feels like the “Pride Fam” is so supportive, and we are very lucky.
Personally, what have you enjoyed the most about being a part of PrideHouseLA?
The messages that we have gotten showing how this is affecting other people’s lives for the better have really made a big impact. That has inspired us to work harder and keep going. If we didn’t feel like this was making an impact or doing the right thing, we would not keep going. Really, we are so grateful and so excited to see the direction this house is going towards. We cannot wait to see what more it can become.
@pridehousela Take us back to @disneyparks ????️???????? #pridehousela
Would you say PrideHouseLA has helped you become a better actor, dancer, and content creator?
Definitely as a content creator. Honestly, I did not think of myself as one until the pandemic and doing all this. I found my love in the theatre community and found that resilience and work ethic, and I got to bring that to the online platform. Seeing people appreciate it and seeing that I could make a difference in a positive direction for other people in the queer community by speaking out, has made this so much more meaningful.
How beneficial would you say TikTok and other short-form video content has become within the past year?
I think the short-form video content has become more beneficial to the individual content creator. In the past, you would have to hope to have the opportunity to showcase your work, showcase the abilities that you have, or showcase your support. You would have to kind of ask for that, whereas now, you can create that space for yourself. You can use your voice and find a community of people who you support, and they support you back.
It has really empowered a lot of people. Not just the queer community, but all different communities to find ways to band together, block out that hate, and stand up for each other. I also think the education process has also completely been woken up because of this. I have learned a lot by being in this online community. Not only was I unaware of it, but I do not know if I would have been able to find it.
As an actor, you starred in Disney Channel’s Teen Beach franchise, played Link Larkin in Hairspray Live, and have appeared in several other TV shows including The Fosters. Have you always had a passion for acting?
Yes! I started acting when I was around 13 and got my first professional job when I was 15. I would say, I wasn’t like a little kid who went to dance classes all the time. I feel like I got a little bit of a later start than a lot of my friends who started when they were three, but it made me work harder. I am so grateful because I ended up getting to find that passion and start searching it out.
I remember, I was riding the Greyhound bus every weekend to go to auditions in Chicago. I grew up in Detroit, and luckily, my parents had a meeting with my school saying, ‘Your job is to train our child for the workforce, but my child is already working. So, if he gets his work in on time, and he does what he’s supposed to do, then you can’t get upset with him for missing days of school. He’s working and seeking opportunity, and learning skills that are going to help him beyond this format.’
When you first came out, you talked about the homophobia you experienced in Hollywood. Are you still facing that or is it getting better?
That is an interesting question. It has been about three years since I’ve come out, and normally, in other interviews, I didn’t want to give an answer because I did not feel like it was appropriate yet. I cannot speak to experience unless I have had enough experiences to have a well-rounded opinion.
In my personal experience, I would say that there is still a weird prejudice. On the surface/PR aspect, everyone is acting woke. That’s nice, but weirdly enough, I have booked more gay roles as a closeted, gay man than an out one. In those years, I have auditioned for multiple gay roles, and not gotten them.
Fifty to 75 percent of them went to straight people. I have friends who will say, ‘You’re an actor; you should be able to be things you’re not,’ and while that is fine, it’s the unequal opportunity that our community is having an issue with. You will audition a straight person for any gay role, but you won’t audition any gay person for any straight role. More so, you are still casting more straight people in gay roles than you are gay people in gay roles. If that was reversed, society would lose their minds. If there were more gay people booking straight roles, people in that community would get upset about it.
It just seems like people are not understanding the other side, and I also think people do not fully understand the producer’s aspect of it. Since I have been getting into that more, interestingly enough, no one has ever spoken about this in interviews that I have read. A lot of producers have told me that it is hard for them to attach LGBTQ talent as the starring vehicle to get things funded because of foreign sales. A lot of producers and production companies care about that for revenue more than they care about domestic releases within the U.S.
I do not want to name any actors because I don’t want to make anyone feel bad, but I have brought up very famous LGBTQ actors, and those producers will say they are wonderful, but they have no box-office value overseas. Hollywood cares most about making money back on these projects, and what we can do is actively put our money into these LGBTQ projects. Right now, Hollywood is still saying they barely ever see a return on the LGBTQ films. What we can do to counterbalance that is, as a community, we need to start putting money into renting those movies, buying those movies, buying that music, supporting those artists.
When we can show Hollywood that we have a return on our performers and entertainers, then they are going to start taking us seriously and start putting our people in our community on the front lines of those starting vehicles. It is up to us to change that narrative and put that money into these projects. That is going to show that they are wrong. At the end of the day, I do think they will be wrong in the future. It’s the learning curve that the world is going through.
Before coming out, you played gay porn star Brent Corrigan in 2016’s King Cobra. Why did you decide to play that role, and did you have any reservations about it?
Of course, I was nervous to play that role for obvious reasons, but I saw this as an opportunity to show people that I can be more than bubbly and smiley. I could show that duality of someone who is in a very difficult position, and I tried to utilize this role to speak out. If you have ever seen things like After Porn Ends, you learn what happens to these people after they are out of the business. They are idolized when they are a porn star, but when they retire, they are shunned. Their kids are not allowed to play with other kids; people do not want to be their friends just because of their past work; they are isolated, alone. There are so many more sad stories than there deserve to be.
We need to stop celebrating these people in the dark, but then shame them in the light. It is very important that people realize that it is still a job at the end of the day. I never thought negatively about the people in that community, but I did not know a lot about it. When I learned about what these people face and the prejudice they run into after they are done with this job, it is very heartbreaking. I really wanted to delve into that work.
How did it feel to finally become comfortable with your sexuality?
When I finally became comfortable with my sexuality, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I did not feel apologetic anymore. I didn’t feel hurt, scared, or embarrassed because of all the other people who had expectations of me to be something I wasn’t. I felt that I finally got to just be me. Be comfortable in my skin, and it really brought me closer to so many people I love. They just wanted to see me feel the joy of being unique and different, and that kind of confidence led me to some of the most amazing people in my life. I am so grateful because those are the people who helped me come to terms with my authenticity. I never looked back, and I want to utilize my voice to help other people feel confident with their truth.
You also talked about the trouble you had coming out to your family, especially your dad and brother. Have you been able to mend those relationships?
My brother and I still have not spoken, but I have been in touch with my father quite a bit. Things are getting better.
@garrettclayton91 @kentboyd_ DC: @jikamanu & @junior_jmss
How are things with you and your fiancé, Blake? Any wedding developments you would like to talk about?
Oh my God, we are so excited! We do have some plans laid out, like the location and such, but I do not want to spill too many details right now.
Are you two still doing your YouTube channel, A Gay in the Life with Garrett and Blake?
That has kind of taken a backseat just because there is so much going on work wise and PrideHouseLA, but I do want to continue it in the future. Right now, there are just not enough hours in the day [laughs].
What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform?
As an actor, I still have a lot of goals in regards to the types of roles I would like to play. I want to be a wizard; I want to be a superhero; I feel like I want to get back into doing some sort of comedy on TV. That would be really fun. I have always had a lot of goals as an actor. I want to do Broadway at some point because I love theatre, and I have been doing this since I was a kid and went to school for it at one point. I have consistently done it throughout the years, so I have a lot of goals acting wise. I got a long checklist, but I have been able to check off a lot of cool things.
In regards to my social platform and activism, I just hope that we can grow PrideHouseLA into something that is wonderful and bring on new members. One of my main focuses, and one of the main focuses as a group, we really just want to make sure that people feel the love and acceptance that we want to offer into the world. We hope this platform will benefit our community, and we will be able to learn more about each other and our allies who want to know more. We just want to create a wonderful safe space for the queer community and allies alike. I think we have a lot of growth happening right now, and we are so excited for the amazing support.
Stay up-to-date with Clayton by following him on Instagram and TikTok. Click here to follow PrideHouseLA.
Photos Courtesy of Mason Trueblood, Lee Gumbs, and Social Media
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