Shawn Mendes has clearly heard constant whispers about his sexuality over the years, and on Monday (October 28), the singer spoke out during a quiet moment on his “For Friends and Family” tour at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver Elephants in the room.

“I was thinking for a minute today about whether I should say something about this part of the set tonight,” Mendes told the crowd while sitting on a stool and strumming his acoustic guitar, as seen in a fan’s TikTok video was. After the crowd repeatedly chanted “We love you!”, Mendes, 26, continued to describe what it was like growing up in the spotlight.

“I was still very young when I started. I was 15 years old…The truth is that as a 15-year-old I didn’t get to do a lot of things and discover parts of myself that you do at 15,” he explained about the transition from high school to traveling the world. “There’s been this thing about my sexuality since I was really young and people have been talking about it for so long. I think it’s kind of silly because I think sexuality is such a wonderful, complex thing and it’s so hard to just put it in boxes.”

Mendes has kept his dating life fairly private over the past decade, and although he has been linked to several other fellow stars, his two-year relationship with Camila Cabello was his most well-known romance, inspiring a number of his songs including “Summer of Love” and “Wonder” and their 2019 hit duet “Señorita.”

“It always felt to me like an intrusion into something very personal. Something I discovered within myself, something I hadn’t yet discovered and still haven’t discovered,” he told the crowd about writing new confessional song “The Mountain,” which addresses the persistent rumors about his sexuality explains. Continue with the lyrics: “You can say I’m too young/You can say I’m too old/You can say I like girls or boys/Whatever suits you.”

“Writing this song felt really important to me because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that was close to my heart. I guess I just speak more freely now because I just want to be closer to everyone and just be in my truth. The real truth about my life and my sexuality is, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone else,” Mendes said to another round of supportive cheers. “Sometimes I don’t really know, sometimes I do. And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about it. And I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be human and feel things… And that’s all I really want to say about it right now.”

He then began the verse “You can say I’m too young” from The Mountain, which is set to be included on the singer’s upcoming fifth studio album. Shawnwhich is scheduled to be released on November 15th.

In 2019, Mendes said The Guardian that the ongoing whispers and speculation about his sexuality “have been hurtful… I get angry when people assume things about me because I imagine the people who don’t have the support system that I have and how that must affect them.” .” He said at the time that the rumors hurt not only him, but also the members of the LGBTQ community who admired him. “That’s why I was so angry, and you can tell I’m still angry because I don’t think people understand that when you attack me for something stupid, you’re hurting so many other people,” he said. “They may not talk, but they listen.”

Mendes discussed the topic in this interview following a 2018 year Rolling Stone Cover story in which he addressed the lecture directly, saying, “I feel like I need to be seen in public with someone – like a girl – to prove to people that I’m not gay… Even if it’s in my Hearts is.” I know it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a part of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me.” He later criticized both stories for not giving the full picture of who he was.