Iain Armitage has a few replies ready for strangers who ask about his sexuality. One is “Not for you.” Another is a request to leave his private life alone.

He talks about those encounters in Jessica Radloff’s new Young Sheldon book. USA TODAY published an authorised excerpt on 17 October, ahead of the book’s 20 October release from Grand Central Publishing.

The questions cover girlfriends, who he’s dating and whether he’s gay. Armitage, 18, says he’ll sometimes make someone laugh to move the conversation elsewhere. He doesn’t declare a sexual orientation in the passage. He also asks people to be kind and respect others’ pronouns.

Kit Connor has spoken about similar scrutiny. After online speculation, the Heartstopper actor publicly said he was bisexual in October 2022. In a British Vogue interview published the following July, he explained: “I just felt like it wasn’t something I was ready to talk about.” He would have preferred to come out another way, though he didn’t regret it and had found it empowering.

Away from celebrity life, deciding who to tell can involve practical worries about home and school. The Trevor Project’s Coming Out Handbook asks young people to consider who feels safe to talk to and who will support them. Its safety section suggests preparing a back-up plan for housing, food and transport if things become unsafe.

Armitage can use humour to deflect a stranger’s curiosity. He also has a reply for when he wants to be direct: “That’s private, dude, don’t ask that.”