During a recent Pride roundtable discussion, out artists Adam Lambert, Big Freedia, Tegan Quin, Hayley Kiyoko and ILoveMakonnen shared their thoughts on being an LGBT rights activist.

“When you're a queer artist, there's an assumption that you will also be a queer activist,” Billboard asked. “How did you decide whether or not to take on that role?”

“I was really overwhelmed in the very beginning,” Lambert answered. “American Idol was so fast. All of a sudden I was on magazine covers. I was dealing with the personal adjustment I had to make, and then on top of it, there was all this energy behind being the gay guy doing it. I knew I was comfortable saying, 'Yes, I’m gay.' But educating the masses? I didn’t get into this business to be an educator. I just wanted to wear glitter and sing.”

“Leading by example is a form of activism,” he added.

Big Freedia, whose reality television show Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce ran for six seasons on Fuse, agreed.

“Same with me. When I was doing my TV show, I was educating the masses as well. All you can do is go out there and be the best you. I get DMs all the time: kids who don’t know how to come out to their parents, parents who don’t know how to deal with their kids who are gay. I try to give the best advice I can. That’s all I can do,” Big Freedia said.

Tegan Quin, half of the musical group Tegan and Sara, said that she felt “a lot of pressure to be more political.”

Hayley Kiyoko, known as “Lesbian Jesus” to her fans, said that she was inspired by the sisters.

“I would listen to Tegan and Sara in my car on a road trip and be like, 'If they can do it, I can do it. They have short hair. I have short hair. I look just like them,'” Kiyoko said. “If you can inspire hope and give light when people are in that darkness, they will help you make this world a better place.”

“I don’t really feel a pressure – more like a responsibility,” Makonnen said. “[My fans] look up to me and support me, so when they ask for advice or anything, the least I can do is respond in a Snapchat message or Instagram. We owe those people. They’ll come out [to shows], they’ll buy your merch, they’ll sing all your songs. They really listen to you.”