Country singer Steve Grand on coming out and his ex-gay therapy

“I had no idea what people were gonna think,” country singer Steve Grand says in an interview with BuzzFeed about the difficult decision to come out. “I had no idea how people were gonna respond. I couldn’t sleep.”

Grand’s recent angst stems from the release of his new video, entitled “All-American Boy,” a song he based on a real-life experience about unrequited love for a straight lad.

The Chicago native told BuzzFeed he obsessed over how his church, where he works as a wedding and funeral singer, might respond to its same-sex content.

The chorus of “All-American Boy” makes Grand’s desire clear: “Be my all-American boy tonight/where everyday’s the 4th of July/and it’s all right, all right/And we can keep this up till the morning light/and you can hold me deep in your eyes/and it’s all right, all right.”

In this video interview with ABC News, Grand is moved to tears while describing how he felt after telling his parents he is gay and being sent for ex-gay therapy.

Earlier this month, BuzzFeed had proclaimed Grand as the first openly gay country music artist — overlooking Canada’s Drake Jensen, from Ottawa, who came out in the music industry in 2012 with the release of his first album, On My Way to Finding You.

A downloadable version of “All-American Boy.”

Find Steve Grand on Facebook.

Find him on Twitter.