“It’s particularly inspiring to see someone who is Black and LGBTQ and proud and unapologetic,” said Paley. In May, he released a music video which depicts Lil Nas X uplifting a younger version of himself in high school when he was contemplating suicide and struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.
#LIL NAS X GAY STORY SERIES#
In February, Lil Nas X shared a series of intimate TikTok videos documenting his life story, including his battle with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation during his rise to fame. “The fact that he has been so open, so vulnerable about his mental health journey, his thoughts of suicide, he is really helping to destigmatize conversations that are too often shrouded in shame.” WATCH: What Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ says about Black queerness “He has done it in a way that has resonated and impacted communities where these conversations are often taboo, but where they are so needed,” Paley said. In an interview, Amit Paley, CEO and executive director at The Trevor Project, said the awareness that the “Old Town Road” artist has brought to suicide prevention and mental health has been “profound.” The group cited Lil Nas X’s “openness about struggling with his sexuality and suicidal ideation, his continued advocacy around mental health issues, and his unapologetic celebration of his queer identity.” The Trevor Project is a nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention and crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people. He doesn’t stop with challenging straight people’s assumptions also fighting toxic constructs of masculinity in the queer community.NEW YORK (AP) - Lil Nas X has been awarded the inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award from the advocacy group The Trevor Project. He strips such criticism of his work of its thinly veiled homophobia and calls out society’s double standards, showing that we don’t need to accept things simply because that’s the way they have always been. He kisses and dances suggestively with them, daring people to challenge him for making queerness sexy.Īnd challenge him they do – but he’s ready for them, arguing that: ‘y’all be silent as hell when n****s dedicate their entire music catalogue to rapping about sleeping with multiple women, but when I do anything remotely sexual I’m “being sexually irresponsible”.’ He places men at the forefront, subjecting them to the same sexualising male gaze as women have been for decades. With every performance, Lil Nas X contests the outdated secrecy surrounding gay sexuality. It’s intensely moving to feel so represented, and it highlights just how little we hear it in mainstream music. Even now, it’s still groundbreaking to hear a man sing to, or about another, man. It’s refreshing for queer sexual desire to be celebrated so openly, and I surprised myself by feeling emotional hearing the opening lines of That’s What I Want: ‘need a boy who can cuddle with me all night’. This is evident across his latest album, Montero, which freely explores his sexuality through an eclectic mixture of genres.
Lil Nas constantly builds his responses to the world around him into his work, from trolls and memes to stereotypes and self-reflection. Rather than shrink back for fear of discomfort or polarising opinions, he leans in – and he is clearly having the time of his life doing so.
The importance of these doubly-marginalised communities being represented cannot be understated – for many queer Black people it can often feel that there is not only a glass ceiling limiting their aspirations, but walls keeping them from integrating with their communities.Īs he has done throughout his career, Lil Nas leads by example, embracing his otherness. Lil Nas joins a relatively short list of openly queer Black musicians that includes Tyler, The Creator, Kevin Abstract and Frank Ocean. Having an openly gay role model changes lives: giving us someone to look up to, showing a version of ourselves that is beautiful because of its queerness, not in spite of it. While it’s true that sexuality shouldn’t have any bearing on success, Lil Nas coming out certainly mattered to countless fans – myself included. Announcing his sexuality casually via Twitter belied its historic nature, which was important to him: he noted that ‘if you’re doing this while you’re at the top it’s showing it doesn’t really matter, I guess’.