It was sadly a different time when Arnold Schwarzenegger was growing up - homophobia was rife and being gay wasn't accepted too readily.
Thankfully, things have changed somewhat.
Highlighting some of the progress humanity has made, Mr Schwarzenegger has stunned his fans by revealing as a teenager, he was beaten by his father because he thought he was a homosexual.
The walls in the bedroom of a young Arnold were decorated in posters of half-naked bodybuilders and so his father assumed his son was gay.
In an interview with Xposure, the movie star said: “he ran after me with a belt and beat me.”
“I don’t know if mum thought I was gay, or if she just thought something was off and thought ‘let’s catch it early,” he continued. “She asked the doctor, ‘Can you help me? I don’t know if there’s something wrong with my son because his wall is full of naked men. All of Arnold’s friends have pictures of girls above their bed. And Arnold has no girls.’”
“He ran after me with a belt and beat me.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
Whilst the Governor of California, Arnold didn’t always have a friendly track record when it came to pro-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender legislation.
He vetoed same-sex marriage bills in 2005 and 2007, but later on conducted two same-sex ceremonies.
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