Singer Shawn Mendes has come under fire after he refused to help a fan come out as bisexual to her parents. During a pre-show Q&A session at his Oakland, CA concert on July 14, a supporter asked the superstar to help her come out as bisexual to her family by recording a video for her. But when the “In My Blood” crooner explained he wasn’t comfortable doing that, it caused some major backlash.

“I’m bisexual, and I haven’t told anyone,” the fan, named Lydia, told Shawn and the rest of the audience. “But, my parents are kind of very strict. And I don’t know how to tell them. So I was wondering if you could do a little video.”

While the 20-year-old applauded her bravery, he explained that she should be the one to speak her truth.

“Your parents are your parents. They’re gonna love you no matter what you say, no matter how you say it or how you look when you say it, any time of day. Nothing I say is going to mean anything that is even close to what you say, OK?” he said. “You’re their world. I cannot possibly come close to the amount of joy and happiness that they’re gonna feel when they find out that you’re telling them your truth and your honesty. Don’t ask me to do that. I would if I thought that it was a better thing to do. But I know in my heart it’s not. I know that your parents are gonna just love you more for being honest with them.”

Some fans admired Shawn’s response, while others were not too happy with it.

“You know, Shawn Mendes might have felt he was put in an awkward position when that girl asked him to announce her coming out but the way he said that her parents would accept her no matter what might very well not be true and saying that could come from a place of ignorance,” one fan wrote, while another added, “He needs to realize that there are LGBTQ+ youth being kicked out of their homes for coming out to their families. He could have talked more in depth with her to find out what her family was like. He didn’t have to straight up turn her request down.”

“You’ve never had to experience going through hell coming out to anybody, especially your parents. I have a friend whose parents won’t talk to her now after her coming out to them as gay,” a third fan tweeted. “It’s the scariest thing to come out as any sexuality whatsoever and to pretend that ‘everything will be okay’ and ‘your parents will love you no matter what and love you more for coming out’ is total BS. I’m fortunate enough to have a loving family, but others don’t.”

We are seriously amazed by the fan’s strength.

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