Unprotected: A Memoir

By Billy Porter

Book Overview

From Billy Porter, the incomparable Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner, Unprotected is a powerful and revealing autobiography about race, sexuality, art, and healing.

"Bold, hilarious, honest, and singular. Unprotected is a record of survival, commitment to authenticity, and healing; a road map out of hell." --Leslie Odom Jr.

Billy Porter is a multitalented, multifaceted treasure at the top of his game, and Unprotected is a resonant, inspirational story of trauma and healing, shot through with his singular voice.

It's easy to be yourself when who and what you are is in vogue. But growing up Black and gay in America has never been easy.

Before Billy Porter was slaying red carpets and giving an iconic Emmy-winning performance in the celebrated TV show Pose; before he was the groundbreaking Tony and Grammy award-winning star of Broadway's Kinky Boots; and before he was an acclaimed recording artist, actor, playwright, director, and all-around legend, Porter was a young boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn't fit in.

At five years old, Porter was sent to therapy to "fix" his effeminacy. He was endlessly bullied at school, sexually abused by his stepfather, and criticized at his church. Porter came of age in a world where simply being himself was a constant struggle.

Unprotected is the story of a boy whose talent and courage opened doors for him, but only a crack. It is the story of a teenager discovering himself, learning his voice and his craft amid deep trauma. And it is the story of a young man whose unbreakable determination led him through countless hard times to where he is now; a proud icon who refuses to back down or hide.

Billy Porter's Unprotected is the life story of a singular artist and survivor in his own words.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1419746197
• ISBN13: 9781419746192
• Release Date: October 2021
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Everyone- and I mean EV-ERY-ONE -needs to read this

Unprotected. Innumerable: the amount of times my jaw dropped. This isn't a story of pity. It isn't a story to make you feel this way or that way. It isn't a happy story but neither is it a sad story. The first time I ever even saw Billy Porter was on the red carpet; he was wearing a STUNNING black velvet suit gown (designed and made by Christian Siriano, my favorite on Project Runway that season so I guess those furloughs did give me some US cultural knowledge!) and I was enraptured. I never dreamed that the person who wore that suit gown like it was both the toughest armour and yet the most delicate china....had been unprotected. And sometimes you don't know. Coming into this world right after slavery, during Jim Crow, and continuing to red lining and the for profit prison industry, the odds were always stacked against him. Yet someone he survived. Is it good to praise his story and uplift such an example? Absolutely. But the more important question to ask yourself, is why is it so extraordinary that a little Black boy grew up- and grew up to be such an accomplished man. 10/10 recommend