Home

[Lazarus]

Troye Sivan, Adam Lambert & More Queer Artists Speak About Prejudice in the Industry Over Brunch

A recent article for Variety highlighted a meeting of some of the biggest names in LGBTQ pop culture and music. Hosted by Lucas Keller of the Milk & Honey management company, Brett McLaughlin (better known by his stage name Leland) and James ?JHart? Abrahart, attendees included pop-rock stars Troye Sivan and Adam Lambert, hitmaking writer/producer Justin Tranter and more.

The group discussed what it meant to be openly gay in the industry over brunch, highlighting the fact that many queer artists face homophobia on a regular basis. ?Whether it?s passive or aggressive, there?s always something,? said Tranter. ?I won?t get put in certain sessions because they?ll think: ?Oh, he would never understand that.? That sort of stuff happens all the time.?

For some, homophobia is less blatant; Sivan said that he understands why young artists would choose to remain in the closet at the outset of their careers. ?We?re all pushing for change, but we?ve got a really long way to go,? he said. ?So I don?t blame anyone for that [choice]. I would like to think that events like this are creating a safer space for everyone to be open about who they are, but I don?t know if we?re there yet.?

For others, homophobia is a rampant, destructive issue; pop singer Parson James said that when he came into the industry, not seeing the support of a label run by queer people was extremely hurtful. ?That was soul-crushing, just because you?re in a position of power to empower people like me -- and people like those who are coming up and wanting to express themselves,? he said. ?It was a dark realization about the monetization and the product that you become when you?re in the industry.?

Lambert described his public coming out experience as ?being thrown into a pot of boiling water,? and added that ?There were moments after my first year or two on the scene where I started getting insecure. I started thinking: ?Do I need to change who I am to fit in, or to achieve success?? The thing I?ve learned the hard way is that you can?t please everybody.?

While the meeting was undoubtedly successful in addressing the problem of homophobia in the industry, many others called it out for having another problem entirely. Singer, Broadway star and YouTuber Todrick Hall tweeted in response to a photo of the event, ?Love that this is happening. Sad that there appears to be no people of color in the photo.?

Others jumped on board, saying that an event calling for acceptance of queer artists should be including non-white and non-male queer artists as well. One of those who criticized the meeting was Tranter himself, who tweeted after the story?s publishing, ?To everyone upset about the lack of diversity here, you should be. I didn?t organize the event, I just attended. A lot of my quotes about the extreme lack of diversity in the room, and the importance of intersectionality, were not published.?

Parson James chimed in as well, adding that while he was disappointed at the lack of diversity in the room, he was glad the conversation was happening. ?While it was definitely surprising to be the only POC at this initial event, I am genuinely excited about the conversations this has started to open up,? he wrote on Twitter. ?We as a community owe it to ourselves to push events like this further along & learn from each one.?

[D.I.E.G.O.]

Glad Parson James chimed in. Wish more Queer artists of color should be a part of these conversations!!!

[Kurama]

Not really clapping for these whites with sucky music crying about inclusion, Im sorry.

[Kalifornia.]

Aw, poor White guys.

[Kaeli.]

z

[RAY7]

Wow Todrick actually is waking up?
Bran?s Power!

[Bulldagger]

I don't think the industry is to blame. I think the consumers just don't want that niche based, fad music. Being a gay artist is still seen as a gimmick and a fad to very large degree. This transcends race because look at Frank Ocean. With all the hype he gets, he?s still indie as hell.

[Nine]

Not really clapping for these whites with sucky music crying about inclusion, Im sorry.

!!!

At all.

Bye.

[BAPHOMET.]

Fags always whining about shit but you wont hear a PEEP when it comes to people of color. d

[FlowerBomb]

 

[RAY7]

Boy George
Elton John
George Michael
Freddie Mercury

[Lazarus]

Boy George 

[Admin]

I don't think the industry is to blame. I think the consumers just don't want that niche based, fad music. Being a gay artist is still seen as a gimmick and a fad to very large degree. This transcends race because look at Frank Ocean. With all the hype he gets, he?s still indie as hell.

I disagree. I think it all starts with the record labels. They're the ones who think they have the target audiences all figured out. Music listeners really don't care imo, they just consume what they receive. Record labels decide beforehand who they support financially. Who knows who's being declined right now for being too black, queer or whatever?

[BAPHOMET.]

Not even surprised. lol. Just as I thought.

a room full of honky ass faggots

[Buy The Stars✨]

Aw, poor White guys.

They shouldn't treat twink troye that way tbh