How social media is helping LGBT pop stars to come out
Having an online presence enables them to develop fanbases around their authentic selves
LGBT pop stars are thriving like never before.
Indie-pop darling Phoebe Bridgers, who has been vocal about her bisexuality, was commended for her fierce individuality when she was honoured with the Trailblazer Award at the Billboard Women in Music Awards last week.
“I feel very lucky to be surrounded by people who allow me to do whatever I want,” Bridgers said on the red carpet.
Sawyer Fredericks, who stole the hearts of millions when he won the eighth season of US television series The Voice in 2015, scored a personal victory when he came out as bisexual to fans on Instagram last month.
Bridgers and Fredericks are not alone in embracing their queerness as public figures.
Rapper and singer Lil Nas X scored a No 1 single with a song whose music video features him giving Satan a lap dance; Troye Sivan donned a dress at last year’s annual fundraising Met Gala in New York; and major pop stars such as Sam Smith and Demi Lovato have both come out as non-binary in recent years.
While such bold visibility may seem like the norm in 2022, it’s a far cry from pop music’s recent history.
Boy George, lead singer of the ’80s pop group Culture Club, playfully dodged questions about his sexuality in interviews or conceded he was bisexual, although he would later come out as gay. An arrest for committing a “lewd act” in a public park would prompt singer George Michael to declare his sexuality in 1998.
Former NSync member Lance Bass refrained from coming out as gay in the early 2000s for fear of jeopardising the band’s career. American Idol alum Adam Lambert was dropped from a major morning talk show in 2009 after an awards show performance drew backlash over his same-sex kiss.
So, what’s changed between then and now? The advent of social media, the visibility of LGBT trailblazers, and cultural change are among factors accounting for this wave of queer pop stardom.
Myles McNutt, associate professor of communication and theatre arts at Old Dominion University in the US state of Virginia, says the open-ended nature of social media has given LGBT artists the ability to organically develop fanbases centred on the expression of their authentic selves.
“We’re seeing more artists being more comfortable expressing that part of themselves because they have access to platforms where [their identity] is more valued and less marginalised than the traditional industry standards that are there, opening up a new form of representation in the process,” McNutt says.
Electropop singer Hayley Kiyoko, affectionately referred to by fans as Lesbian Jesus, came out with the release of her single Girls Like Girls in 2015. The song’s music video, which tells the coming-of-age story of two girls realising their romantic feelings for one another, went viral and marked a turning point in Kiyoko’s self-perception as a public figure.
Jeremy Blacklow, director of entertainment media at NGO Glaad, says the sense of connection facilitated by technology has expanded LGBT representation, which helps bring “the queer world together” and creates “more opportunities for queer people to see themselves and to find community”.
These advances in representation have been a long time coming. Karen Tongson, professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of Southern California, says the current generation of LGBT pop stars echoes a legacy of artists, including David Bowie, Prince and rock pioneer Little Richard, who incorporated queer aesthetics into their work.
“Stylistically, these artists are evocative of artists who always played with gender binaries,” she says.
What role has mainstream society played in this sea change of queer representation?
Tongson says there has been a broader cultural shift “where people are interested in exploring identities that are not ‘normal’, mainstream, basic”.
“It’s less about a story of necessarily political progress but more a story about how we relate to different styles and different aesthetics over the course of time and when we feel more daring in that regard,” Tongson says.
Still, media representation and record contracts are not a cure-all for achieving deeper societal progress for the LGBT community. Tongson says systemic issues, such as a lack of diversity, are still present in industries supporting LGBT artists.
“We can say all we want about … acceptance from a broader culture, but the people who run the music industry still are often the same people who run every industry, and that’s cis[gender] white men,” Tongson says.
McNutt says increased representation only scratches the surface of remedying the inequalities that have excluded queer people from the mainstream.
“It’s chipping away as part of that broader social progression,” McNutt says. “But ultimately, it doesn’t solve marginalisation. It is a tool by which marginalised individuals can help to push back against that in a meaningful way.”
On an individual level, the growing prominence of LGBT artists can give a sense of belonging to those who need it most.
“As more pop stars or musicians of any genre come out and are more visible, that’s going to lead to greater acceptance overall,” Blacklow says. “It’s going to let LGBT people who are figuring out their own identities feel more comfortable and like there’s a world that’s out there for them, waiting and welcoming them with open arms.”
I feel very lucky to be surrounded by people who allow me to do whatever I want
PHOEBE BRIDGERS, SINGER-SONGWRITER