With New Memoir 'Devout,' David Archuleta Centers Faith and Sexuality

Out singer-songwriter David Archuleta opened up about his forthcoming memoir and how he's had to push back against the idea that being gay is a choice. As he put it, "I tried everything not to be queer."

The book, titled "Devout," "features his reflections on the challenges he faced before and after coming out," Huffpost detailed.

Archuleta, 34, discussed the memoir with People Magazine, telling the publication that the book is "about coming out of the closet, coming out of Mormonism and trying to teach people why coming out is not just a choice."

Archuleta, whose recent single "Hell Together" celebrated the way his mother supported him by walking away from the Mormon church rather than reject her son, has spoken out repeatedly of late about his experience as a gay former member of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Last March he shared a cheerful video in which he listed the various ways in which being an out queer man (and an ex-Mormon) has made him freer and happier... including being a former virgin.

@davidarchie I'm an ex-Mormon, of course... 🤷🏻‍♂️ #HellTogether link in bio. #newmusic ♬ Hell Together - David Archuleta

He revisited that theme in his comments to People, telling the magazine that "people from where I grew up thought, 'Well, you made the choice to do that. Why would you do that?' And it's like, well, I tried everything not to be queer."

While LGBTQ+ people know that their innate nature is not a "choice," that simple truth remains elusive for many heterosexual and cisgender people. Archuleta noted that the fact that queer people are queer as a matter of their own immutable nature and not because of any "choice" they make is "an important message."

"Even if it's some risky stuff to talk about," the onetime "American Idol" star went on to add, "I think we need to talk about certain things. I'm ready to go on tour. I'm ready to talk about the topics, and if there's anything that people don't understand, I'm ready to combat that too."

He's already put in considerable effort just in writing the memoir, thanks to incessant demands from his publisher's legal team.

"I've been through so much legal shit," Huffpost quoted the "Up All Night" singer saying. "I wrote the book, I was done with it, and the legal department keeps saying, 'You know what? This is too much. We need you to blend it out here and there,' and I do, and they're like, 'We need a little more.' I didn't realize how controversial my life is."

Still, he told People, "I think it's important to talk about certain things. I changed names."

"It's interesting to talk about your life when other people had such an impact on you," Archuleta went on to say. "And it's like, 'Well, how do I tell my story if I don't include how these people affected my life?'"

To that end, he made the effort to connect with the people in the book's pages. "I just want to be respectful," he explained, "even [with] family members I've had controversial dynamics with."

Archuleta remains a singer, though, and as such he will be putting out a cover of George Michael's "Freedom" this coming Friday, Feb. 7, on the 35th anniversary of the song's initial release.

The times call for that song, in particular, to be remembered, he told People.

"I feel like that song is needed now more than ever, the message of freedom and standing up for your freedom and fighting for your freedom," Archuleta stated, "even when other people don't understand you, who you are and what you stand for is wrong, and they're told to fear."