MGK opened up during a recent interview with Carter Gregory, revealing that his father began calling him a homophobic slur when he was just a toddler.
Around the 13-minute mark of the conversation, MGK said he has no issue with organized religion itself, but struggles with the “shame” that can sometimes come with it.
“I grew up Southern Baptist, where I heard [if] you’re gay, you’re going straight to hell,” Gregory shared. MGK responded by recalling a similar experience from his own childhood, saying, “I grew up in a house where my dad constantly called me a f***ot for dressing the way I did.”
Born in Houston, Texas, in 1990, MGK was raised by Christian missionary parents and spent much of his childhood moving from place to place, including living in Egypt for four years. He has previously revealed that his father kicked him out of the house after he finished high school.
“There was a folder my mom gave me of videos of me as a child,” MGK continued. “And I was one year old, and in the video my mom got me a punching bag, but it was pink. And he was like, ‘Why would you get our son that? You want him to be a f*ggot?’ She got me a kitchen set, he said, ‘Why would you get him that? You want our son to be a f****t?’ … Now, I’m straight, but [when] I grew up I was always like, ‘I’ll wear whatever I want to wear, I’m expressing myself.’”
He also remembered being inspired by Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 to wear a tie over a T-shirt, only for his father to demand that he change. Looking back, MGK said the experience only fueled his determination to be himself.
“That helped me fight the system even more,” he explained. “Like, ‘Bro, I don’t want to fucking turn out like you. You’re miserable, you’re drunk as fuck every day. You’re on pills every day. You fucking don’t do shit. You don’t have a job. I got dreams, and you want to follow a structure, but your structure can’t fit me; I’m too big for that.’”
MGK added that growing up in what he described as a “house of hate” is one of the reasons online criticism rarely affects him today. He said holding onto his dreams helped him push through those difficult experiences.
“I never loved what I was, but I loved what I could become,” he said. “It always gave me a goal.”
Watch the full interview with MGK below
