Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds revealed it was “devastating” to read letters from gay fans who assumed his religious upbringing meant he didn’t accept them.
“It broke my heart to get letters like that,” the singer said, in an interview with Billboard.
Imagine Dragons earned LGBT fans after a 2012 episode of Glee in which Blaine (Darren Criss) sings the band’s “It’s Time” to his boyfriend Kurt (Chris Colfer).
Reynolds said he reminisced about that moment with Criss when they met up at the iHeartRadio MMVAs in Toronto.
“Glee had a huge impact on the band because it helped our first song take off and it had a huge impact on a lot of people, especially within the gay community,” he said. “One of the reasons I’ve felt such a need to speak out on this is I’ve gotten countless emails and letters from fans around the world who said, ‘I’m gay, but I know you’re Mormon so that probably means you don’t accept my lifestyle, but I love ‘It’s Time’ and your music.’
“I’ve written back to these people to tell them, ‘No, I do support you and I’m here for you.’ It’s been a driving force for me to raise awareness and make a difference and not just sit back to let people feel that hurt.”
Reynolds said he felt guilty that his religion preaches hate and intolerance.
“Mormons believe the doctrine is if you are gay and acting upon it, that is sinful,” he explained. “That is a very dangerous and hurtful and hateful thing to preach and to teach our children.
“To be gay is beautiful and right and perfect; to tell someone they need to change their inner-most being is setting up someone for an unhealthy life and unhealthy foundation.”
Not wanting to be “an activist for bigotry,” Reynolds partnered with progressive Mormons Steve and Barb Young to stage Love Loud on Aug. 26 – an event designed to bring together “the LGBTQ community as well as the orthodox religion community and people with no faiths — and have them all come together to listen to music and to speakers who will talk about how important it is for families to not just accept it, but let their children know they’re beautiful the way they are.
"And if there is a God, then God is all for it.”