Christian Rock Star Trey Pearson Discusses First Music Video Since Coming Out

Trey Pearson's life has done a 180 since the Christian rock star and former lead singer of Everyday Sunday came out last summer. Since then, he's taken some time to refocus his creative lense, and now, he's back, releasing his first music video and song since stepping out of the closet.

Related | Trey Pearson, Lead Singer of Christian Rock Band, Comes Out

The "Silver Horizon" video feels very personal, following the story of a man, named Pearson, witnessing a joyful display of homosexuality within the church--and it stars OUT fave and Henry Gamble's Birthday Party star Cole Doman. Take a look, below, and read our exclusive interview with Pearson about his queer comeback visual.

OUT: What inspired the video's story?

Trey Pearson: The song, "Silver Horizon," is very much about the journey I have been on this last year and a half--going from trying to hang on so hard to something I couldn't be, to finding the light on the other side of the darkness. I wanted the music video to be about that light and hope for the future. Coming from a systemic oppressive church culture that was brainwashing and made me feel like it wasn't ok to be my truest, best self, I wanted to shine a light on seeing that change, and the hope for a better future.

How has your career changed since coming out?

I hung up the band I started when I was 16 years old, and I am making my debut solo album. It's a fresh start in so many ways. I've gone from playing Christian Music Festivals to a lot of Pride Festivals. I've written more for this album than I've ever written. I've had a lot to write about. It's such a liberating feeling, to feel so free, and to be able to be so vulnerable has been an extremely powerful thing. It feels like I've been able to tap into something creatively that I was never able to tap into when I was suppressed for so long. I think it's in our vulnerability where we truly connect with others, and so everything just feels so much deeper.

How is your relationship with the church now?

I think it's healthy. I have a deep appreciation for the faith tradition I grew up in, and have a lot of love for Jesus, but I also recognize there are a lot of horrible things done in his name. I'm very grateful, in my progression of my own faith, that I was able to find a lot of open and affirming church spaces over the last several years. Overall, there's a lot of the church teaching extremely harmful theology, destroying millions of LGBT lives, and people around them, as well. It's not the church's first growing pains, let alone humanity's. We've had to work through, and are still working through, slavery, the oppression of women, Crusades, violence and so much more. I'm very grateful for how quickly it's changing right now, and definitely hope to see it continue to change.

What's the message you hope to spread with this video?

I hope the video changes hearts, and spreads hope to those who feel unloved or alone. I hope it brings smiles to faces like the way it does mine, and I hope people enjoy how beautiful it is.