Out singer Chely Wright is touring to
promote her eighth studio album I Am The Rain.
I Am The Rain is Wright's second
album since coming out lesbian six years ago.
In an interview with the Washington
Blade, Wright said that coming out was probably “a wash”
in terms of fans.
“You know, it's hard to tell,”
Wright said when asked whether she lost fans due to her sexuality.
“Of course I lost some fans, but I also gained some, right? There
have been a couple hundred new ones supporting me and coming to my
shows that may not have known me before. It's kind of a wash.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Wright
talked about belonging.
“I had high hopes that the gay
community would have a place for me and that the straight community
would have a place for me and the country music would have a place
for me,” she said. “I don’t know if the country music industry
has acknowledged that they have a place for me, but they do have a
place for me because I claimed it. I think what I was feeling that
day when I was begging for a couple of different groups to validate
me is that looking at it now I realize the power I had that I didn’t
know I had. I don’t need a group to grant me entrance. I, by the
nature of who I am, I have my entry.”