RuPaul once told us, “You know, George Michael said to me, ‘I used to have a lot of gay fans until I came out of the closet.’ It’s interesting because in terms of gay people supporting other gay people, that is still a tough nut we have to crack. There’s so much shame in the gay game that it makes it very difficult for gay artists to have the kind of support that someone like Britney Spears has with a gay audience.”
So today is super important, as it marks one more time when we are beginning to break through this barrier. It sees three important videos making their debut, one is the comeback of Xtina, another is a soundtrack moment for Celine, her forte, while the final one sees Troye Sivan singing about having anal sex with his boyfriend. And guess what? All three are causing just as much of a commotion.
Earlier this week we were listening to Will Young’s terrific podcast, ‘HOMOSAPIENS’ and he revealed he had been told to record one of his singles several times over for sounding ‘too gay’. Now it seems the world is ready to embrace their queer pop stars fully and let them sing not just about love but about sex too. After all if it’s not Troye singing about how he ‘blooms just for you’ then it’s MNEK and his tongue.
Thank God, or thank George, we have managed to make it to this place where LGBT, gay, queer, whatever label you want to give them – even just ‘pop stars’ – finally have the freedom to sing about what they want in the knowledge that we are here for them.