Francois Arnaud, the Canadian actor who stars as Cesare Borgia on Showtime’s The Borgias, has come out as bisexual in his Instagram story ahead of Bi Visibility Day this Wednesday. Arnaud, who also played Tonny Castelli on UnReal and played Antonin Rimbaud in Xavier Dolan’s I Killed My Mother, currently stars in NBC’s Midnight, Texas.
Said Arnaud in his story: “Last week, I was chatting with work friends, and as I brought up a trip I’d taken with an ex-girlfriend, I asked myself —for the ten-thousandth time— how to tell such a story without making it seem like that was the whole story of me.”
“I’m sure many bisexual guys feel the same and end up doing as I did: letting other people’s assumptions of straightness stand uncorrected,” Arnaud added. “Perhaps out of fear of oversharing. Under the guise of privacy, maybe. Probably because ‘masculinity’ is a most fragile currency, ready to nose-dive at the first sign of vulnerability or difference. And because it’s really f**king scary to give up your privilege. Without a doubt because stigmas of indecisiveness, infidelity, deception and trendiness are still clinging to bisexuality.”
“But here’s the thing,” Arnaud continued. “Silence has the perverse effect of perpetuating those stereotypes, making bi guys invisible, and leading people to doubt that we even exist. No wonder it’s still a chore to acknowledge bisexuality without getting into lengthy explanations. So yes, labels are frustrating and words, imperfect. But I’ve always considered myself bisexual. Not confused or trying to look edgy. Not disloyal. Not ashamed. Not invisible. Happy #bivisibilityday this Wednesday.”
