Raised with his four siblings in a deeply religious household by mom Guadalupe, a salsa singer and dancer originally from Honduras, and his musician dad Jeff Archuleta, who’s of Spanish, German and Irish descent, Archuleta admits that he felt his sexuality was at odds with his faith. He struggled especially with the realization that his future might not include the traditional version of a family that he grew up assuming he would have.

“It’s easy, just find a woman and get married, and then you have kids, and if she’s not able to have kids, then you’re not,” he said, summing up what was presented to him. “Because that’s just how it was growing up as a Christian, as a Latter-day Saint. But I’m coming to terms with my own journey, and I’ve actually tried to get into relationships, I’ve tried to move forward with marriage in the past, and it just always ended up being really, really… I don’t know how to describe it. Just, it turned out to be completely not how I would have hoped it would have gone.”

As far as his thoughts on having a family in the future, he admitted, “I don’t know what it means for me anymore.”

Not that he isn’t aware that he does have options, but, he explained, “I have to be more open to what that can mean. And what those options would be. It’s a new process for me.” 

Overall, to Archuleta, having kids would mean the chance “to pass on everything that I’ve learned, to help them have a good life and to be kind, and to help just make a positive impact, wherever they are—and however they are. I still find that beautiful, because there’s nothing more beautiful than to share. And I feel like family is such a great place to share and to find purpose and meaning for oneself, especially when we get older.”