Back in February, TJ Osborne shared that he's gay with his fans. As one half of the popular country duo Brothers Osborne, TJ is the first openly gay artist signed to a major country music label.
During an appearance on CBS This Morning, TJ opened up about what his experience has been like since coming out earlier this year, particularly how the news has profoundly impacted the Brothers Osborne fanbase, as well as all country music fans. "My life has changed in a lot of ways and I've been talking about this at the shows," he shared. "I didn't realize what a sense of purpose it would bring to my life to be here. I didn't realize how much it would resonate especially."
Host Gayle King read a tweet from a Brothers Osborne fan during the segment, as well, which thanked them for being such good role models. The fan shared how grateful she feels that her teen "gets to live in a world where he doesn't have to hide who he is and has men like you two that he can look up to."
"I wasn't thinking about the parents of children who are queer or whatever they are and how that would really help them to help their relationship," TJ responded "That's something that never dawned on me."
TJ also shared a heartwarming fan encounter where he was thanked for creating a safe space at Brothers Osborne shows for the LGBTQ community. "To me, that's worth more than anything than I've ever done," he said.
TJ has previously shared how coming out has positively affected his life. "It's a hard thing to describe and a very difficult thing to go through, and I even had a lot of support around me. But once I finally came out, I didn't really understand the magnitude of how much people cared about me and loved me and supported me," he said. "Had I known that the whole time, I would have done it probably a long time ago and saved myself a lot of strife."