For Gay Pri Month, Billboard asked numero pop culture lumari to wre 'love letters' to the LGBTQ muny.
Contents:
- IMAGE DRAGONS’ DAN REYNOLDS MAK A HUGE ‘BEG GAY’ ANNOUNCEMENT
- IMAGE DRAGONS’ DAN REYNOLDS OPENS UP ABOUT HIS LGBTQ ACTIVISM AND THE HATE HE RECEIV FOR MAKG “SO MANY KIDS GAY”
- IMAGE DRAGONS’ DAN REYNOLDS TALKS NEW ALBUM ‘EVOLVE’ & BIGOTRY MORMONISM: ‘TO BE GAY IS BETIFUL AND RIGHT AND PERFECT’
- BILLBOARD MIC AWARDS: IMAGE DRAGONS RAIS AWARENS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
IMAGE DRAGONS’ DAN REYNOLDS MAK A HUGE ‘BEG GAY’ ANNOUNCEMENT
The Image Dragons ontman discsed workg wh Jt Tranter on “Believer,†the band’s third stud album 'Evolve' and lnchg the Love Loud ftival to bat bigotry and teach acceptance to relig fai: “to be gay is betiful and right and perfect. * imagine dragons is gay *
But durg his acceptance speech at the 2017 TrevorLIVE event, Reynolds took the opportuny to share his story of gog on his Mormon missn trip, where he tght people for two years that beg gay was a s. He lled out Emem for his homophobic lyrics on Kamikaze.
IMAGE DRAGONS’ DAN REYNOLDS OPENS UP ABOUT HIS LGBTQ ACTIVISM AND THE HATE HE RECEIV FOR MAKG “SO MANY KIDS GAY”
Upon acceptg the award for bt rock group at the 2019 Billboard Mic Awards, Image Dragons seized an opportuny to discs gay nversn therapy and the prsur that LGBTQ youth are unr the Uned Stat. * imagine dragons is gay *
People tell me they won’t allow their kids to go to my ncerts anymore; that when I get to heaven, God’s gog to be upset wh me bee I ma so many kids gay. The Mormon Church is famoly associated wh s support of Proposn 8, which outlawed gay marriage California 2008. The church recently released a seri of official vios unr the headle Mormon and Gay that tells the real-life stori of LGBTQ Mormons and monstrat that ’s okay: You n feel gay and be Mormon.
The church is basilly sayg: You n be gay, but you n’t be out.
IMAGE DRAGONS’ DAN REYNOLDS TALKS NEW ALBUM ‘EVOLVE’ & BIGOTRY MORMONISM: ‘TO BE GAY IS BETIFUL AND RIGHT AND PERFECT’
Speakg to the crowd of over 35, 000, Cook’s troductn began, “I stand before you tonight as an uncle, a sports nut, a CEO, a lover of the betiful Utah outdoors, and a proud, gay Amerin! “People tell me they won’t allow their kids to go to my ncerts anymore; that when I get to heaven, God’s gog to be upset wh me bee I ma so many kids gay.
BILLBOARD MIC AWARDS: IMAGE DRAGONS RAIS AWARENS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
Reynolds acknowledged that his activism probably wasn’t gog to change the Mormon Church’s views on homosexualy, somethg that he was massively cril of, but he felt that he had a “rponsibily to speak to all the kids who listen to Image Dragons, and there are so many of them, all the fai e to our shows, and to slowly jt speak this tth of me. Related: Image Dragons’ Dan Reynolds slams Emem over “hateful” anti-gay lyrics. Put all together and is easy to unrstand why the gays are so obssed wh him right now!
People were tellg him, 'Could you sg a ltle ls gay? I’ve had so many parents ask me, So when should you talk about what means to be gay or LGBTQ wh a child? One of my bt iends was gay and Mormon, and I saw how nflicted he was.
I lost a uple iends om suici, I beme iends wh Tyler Glenn [of Neon Tre] who’s Mormon and gay and the sger a band that was around me. So that, a very small gree, is what our gay youth feel every day: that their sexualy, their abily to love, which should be celebrated, they’re told is sful and that they should change . I’ve gotten parents e up to me and say, When you die you’re gog to see God, and God is gog to be so upset wh you and tell you that you ma more kids gay.