Here Are Gay Country Sgers Who Stood Out Loud and Proud

Contents:

• THE GAY SONGWRERS WHO SECRETLY LED THE UNTRY CHARTS ARE READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT
• COUNTRY MIC HAS NEVER BEEN MORE GAY
• ‘I’M HERE, I’M QUEER AND I’M COUNTRY’: THE TOP 5 GAY COUNTRY SONGS
• 9 COUNTRY MIC ARTISTS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY
• HERE ARE GAY COUNTRY SGERS WHO STOOD OUT LOUD AND PROUD
• FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: GAY MALE CELEBRI, HOT COUNTRY SGERSGAY MALE COUNTRY SGERS: EIGHT OUT AND PROUD COUNTRY STARS

THE GAY SONGWRERS WHO SECRETLY LED THE UNTRY CHARTS ARE READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT

It was five years before the first natnal gay rights march even took place. The genre wily known to celebrate ral Ameri, bask tradnal valu, and speak to a largely nservative base, has been penned by dozens of gay songwrers for of them are fally ready to be open about a Saturday afternoon June, the Framele LGBTQ+ film ftival at San Francis’s historic Castro Theatre weled the premiere of the documentary Invisible, which chronicl the stori of lbian songwrers behd untry mic.

The movie marks the first time most of the songwrers have spoken about the gay experience untry Leary, who penned the number one Billboard-chartg untry h for Tim McGraw, “Where the Green Grass Grows, ” (“I’m gonna live where the green grass grows/Watch my rn pop up rows/Every night be tucked close to you/Raise our kids where the good Lord’s blsed/Pot our rock’ chairs towards the Wt, ”) said at a premiere afterparty that although she hop her peers untry mic see the film, she is somewhat nervo for them to do so. Lil Nas X me out as gay 2019, six months after he released one of the bt sellg sgl of all time, “Old Town Road. Still, Lil Nas X chose to release his more recent song pog his feelgs for another man and boldly featurg gay them, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name), ” as a hip-hop song rather than as untry out isn’t the entire battle for the songwrers.

Still, Baker has experienced homophobia untry mic, pecially terms of beg silenced by her straight peers. Fellow wrers and dtry profsnals would tell her throughout the 2000s, as Baker reunts , “I jt don’t want my face, but I’m okay that you’re gay, ” or, “I’m not really prejudiced, but I jt don’t want to talk about . “I lived openly as a gay person but beg a parent jt kd of was a bridge too far for some of them, ” she ’s experience beg gay and havg a genr-fluid child has nohels rmed some of her wrg, like “Invisible” by Hunter Hay: “And you’ve been tryg for so long/To fd out where your place is/But their narrow mds/There’s no room for anyone who dar to do somethg different.

COUNTRY MIC HAS NEVER BEEN MORE GAY

”Baker believ that jt this year there has been a “seismic shift” wh the dtry around gayns, which she pegs to T.

‘I’M HERE, I’M QUEER AND I’M COUNTRY’: THE TOP 5 GAY COUNTRY SONGS

Osborne of untry duo The Brothers Osborne g out publicly as gay Febary and still retag the support of the bulk of his dience. This move ma Osborne, who alongsi his brother has won five Amy of Country Mic Awards and four Country Mic Associatn awards, the most mercially succsful openly gay untry artist to says that sce then she’s seen more nversatns about LGBTQ cln wh the dtry than ever before. Although there are many openly gay songwrers untry mic, there are few openly gay songs.

She was talkg about many thgs — the male-heavy genr imbalance they stoke, the number of songs they champn that lack well-worn trop like dirt roads and tcks — but as far as the sh potential of gay untry fans go, the fan base is Geist ns the webse Country Queer, which highlights emergg LGBTQ untry artists and discs news at the tersectn of the two worlds. He thks the hancy starts wh untry rad, which turn affects the labels, who he scrib as ls homophobic the days but still mercially sensive. “One of the thgs we do at Country Queer is monstrate that there’s really an dience for queer untry artists so that rad and major labels are ls aaid to take a chance at exposg them, ” he the social media ont, the hashtag #untrygay has over 15 ln views on TikTok.

It featur heaps of gay creators donng overalls and wboy hats while lip-syncg and dancg to untry mic. Ty Herndon me out as gay 2014, havg prevly earned a handful of No. ” That same year, Billy Gilman (who found succs untry mic as a child wh songs cludg “One Voice”) also me out publicly as gay.

9 COUNTRY MIC ARTISTS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY

Sce then, the untry mic dtry has slowly seen more openly gay artists and songwrers fd succs. In the 2000s and 2010s, songwrers Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, who are both openly gay, began havg succs as wrers.

“We Shall Be Free” — and s celebry-filled mic vio — took aim at a number of social issu, cludg homophobia, eedom of relign, world hunger and racism. Includ on the group Lavenr Country’s groundbreakg, gay-themed, eponymo 1973 album, this song is a mil ray of sunshe, as the sger basks the happs of a new relatnship.

HERE ARE GAY COUNTRY SGERS WHO STOOD OUT LOUD AND PROUD

Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne me out as gay an terview wh TIME 2021, and soon, the siblg duo released this song, crafted as a song to TJ’s younger self, filled wh enuragement and wisdom.

hen Brandy Clark lnched a untry-mic rerdg reer 2013, there wasn’t any template to follow for an openly gay artist Nashville. Clark has been at the foreont of that shift and creds her iendship wh Shane McAnally — one of Nashville’s most succsful songwrers, who is also gay — wh givg her the nfince to pursue a solo reer.

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“Who knows who’s gog to be listeng to me the flyover stat that’s gog to draw strength om ‘Oh, she’s gay too? Man, if she’s gay and dog that, maybe I uld do that.

“Gee Stra or Gee Gay, there’s no difference, ” sgs Homan, who now liv Nashville. “Though a lot of people that work the dtry support me om a distance, there’s a difference between that and actually takg some steps to ph that further and sign some [gay artists], ” Homan says. While the stereotype is that untry mic is about as far om gay-iendly as you n get, that’s not always the se.