In a recent interview with Paper
magazine, queer recording artist Janelle Monáe talked about her
recent coming out.
The 33-year-old Monáe last year came
out as a “queer black woman in America” ahead of the release of
her third studio album, Dirty Computer.
“I’m just happy that my personal
story has also been personal stories for so many other people,” she
said about coming out. “There’s so many young people who grew up
in the South or Baptist families, who were told that they won’t be
accepted by Christ. They can listen to [Dirty Computer] and
feel hugged. They can feel loved, they can feel seen, they can feel
heard. That’s the most beautiful thing.”
“We have to make sure that we don’t
pressure people to come out,” she said. “Everybody doesn’t have
the same set of circumstances. There are people, young people in
particular, that will be cut off from their family, hanged, or jailed
if they walked in their truth. Folks who are not comfortable speaking
out about your sexuality publicly, we see you and you are valid and
you matter. We have to protect our babies, especially in the LGBTQIA+
community. We have to do better.”
She also named the women she looks up
to: transgender celebrities Indya Moore, MJ Rodriguez, Janet Mock and
Laverne Cox.
“I look to Indya Moore, MJ Rodriquez,
Janet Mock (my Pose family)… Laverne Cox. Those women are
putting themselves and their lives on the frontline everyday,”
Monáe
said. “When their trans sisters and brothers get murdered, they
feel it. We have to support them. It’s just a responsibility I
feel. I could do better. I’ll do better.”