SnapchatShawn Mendes wants to make one thing clear: "I'm not gay."
In a series of Snapchat videos Thursday, the 17-year-old "Stitches" singer dispelled rumors about his sexual orientation and questioned why it became a topic of discussion in the first place. "So I don't usually do this and bring up problems, but I was on YouTube just watching some of my interviews, and I was going down the comments and noticed a lot of people were saying that I gave them a 'gay vibe.' First of all, I'm not gay," Mendes announced. "Second of all, it shouldn't make a difference if I was or if I wasn't. The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality."
"Now I know 99 percent of you guys aren't making assumptions like this, but this is just for the one percent of you that are," he said. "I just want you guys—before you judge someone on the way they speak or act—I want you guys to think, 'Hey, maybe I shouldn't be judging someone' or 'Wait, it actually doesn't even matter. They can do or be or feel however they want to feel.'"
Mendes, who is in the midst of a world tour in support of his debut album Handwritten, added, "I'm not frustrated because people were saying that I was gay at all. I have no problem with that, because it wouldn't make a difference to me. I'm frustrated because in this day and age people have the audacity to write online that I'm gay as if it were a bad thing. That's all I really have to say about that. I just wish those one percent of people would grow up. I love you guys."
The "I Know What You Did Last Summer" singer is currently single, but he knows exactly what he wants in a girlfriend. "I really like funny girls, girls with a witty sense of humor; so if someone is able to catch onto what I'm saying very quickly, I find that very attractive," Mendes told Notion magazine in March. "I really like brunettes…and also, dancers! I have a thing for dancers!"