Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesBackstreet Boys singer A.J. McLean is really opening up in a new interview with LGBT site Pride Source.
The 35-year-old boy bander is sounding off on everything from gay marriage, the band's gay fan base, dressing in drag (remember that 2012 photo shoot?) and why he's dubbed himself the self-proclaimed "f-g hag" of the group!
"Thinking back on it, I've been in this business since I was 3 and I grew up in musical theater, so I was raised and surrounded by gay men and gay women," McLean said. "I was hardly around anyone straight."
McLean added that it's amazing he turned out straight. "Everyone always says, 'When you look at a boy band, one of them has to be gay,'" he said, adding, "No, they don't. Instead of me being gay, I'm the f-g hag."
When asked what it feels like for gay fans to want one or more of the Backstreet Boys members to be gay, McLean gushed, "I think it's awesome. It's great. I've worn a dress at my wedding. I've worn 6-inch Louboutins. I've got no fear and no shame. There's one [fan] named Matt and he's a big, big Nick Carter fan. He's this older gentleman from Tampa and he's gay, and he's been following us during this whole tour from China to Japan and now through the U.S. I think he really hopes that Nick might have a little bit of gay."
"I don't think he does," McLean added. "I'm gonna say no."
McLean also dished on the band's new music video for "In a World Like This," which celebrates marriage equality.
"It stemmed from me personally," he said. "I have a lot of gay friends and two of my best friends have been together for almost 10 years. And living in California, it's been so friggin' frustrating to me that they could not get it right; they couldn't pass the bill. Then, literally, right after we dropped the video, they actually passed the bill [allowing LGBT people to get married] in California, and I was just ecstatic. I just love the fact that people love each other, no matter if they're the same sex or not. I think everybody's equal, period."