Think Piece: He/She/You/Them/We, Whatever.

Gender in the music industry is such a drag. There’s a careful observation of pro-nouns in lyrics and choice of dialogue has to be wise. Kind of like “watch what you say, is that too gay?”

It’s confusing because everyone wants to talk about gender then in the same breath, we’re shh’d and told that we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t because gender should be the ‘norm’ and we also shouldn’t because we should also *try* to ignore it. How very befuddling.

Well here I am, talking about it, it being gender existing specifically in the pop music industry. Pop music is undeniably gay, like it or lump it but whatever you do, don’t get mad that I said it. You only have to put on the UK Top 40 and you’ll bump into Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, One Direction and Beyoncé to name a few. Expressing liberation and empowerment to be what you want to be and do what you want to do; they’re all singing, all performing and all appealing to females audiences and equally, gay males.

This by no means is a negative or damaging to the industry. It’s the topic of gender neutrality that’s the giant glitter ball in the pop-world, blinding the discussion of homosexuality. But oh no, we can’t ignore it. Finally the Supreme Court took off their sunglasses and opened their eyes to realise that those born with the sexual orientation of homosexual are entitled to share their love through marriage… So, isn’t it about time that gay singers should feel confident to sing about their own feelings too? We have countless musicians spreading positive messages about identity and embracing your true self but hang on a minute though... these artists aren’t gay themselves, except for one.

Years & Years frontman, Olly Alexander recently shared a snippet of the speech he would’ve delivered if he as part of the electronica trio had been presented a Brit award this year. In case you’re unaware, the ‘King’, ‘Shine’ and ‘Desire’ lead singer is and always has been, openly gay. I, by no means are saying that their Brit award was jeopardised by his sexual status, but would like to show what he wrote for anyone who may have missed it:

~~<< This month is LGBT+ history month, many of us -myself included , we owe a huge amount to the people that have gone before us, we owe many of our freedoms to the people who fought for our rights, who struggled through so much in the ongoing fight for equality. Those people, along with my friends and family in the wider community today, they are my heroes, they inspire me every day, they make me proud to be part of a community that celebrates diversity and fights for equality for all. They make me proud to be gay. >>~~ - hi bbs! this was part of the speech I was gonna make if we won at the Brits the other night lol, we didn't win anything and that's cool but I thought I would put this here anyway and celebrate the end of LGBT+ history month.

Although when speaking to Digital Spy last year, Olly Alexander said “it is kind of sad to me that we don’t have gay popstars singing about men using a male pronoun, but that could change hopefully.”

Dean Eastmond, co-founder of HISKIND Magazine and Freelance Journalist for The Independent, Gay Times and Attitude explains that “what Olly Alexander is doing is so admirable. He is everything pop needs and being loud and unapologetic about kissing men in music videos as well as singing about a "him" is worth applause. I know if there was someone like him a few years ago, my coming out would've been so much easier.”

Columbia signed, Australian singer/songwriter Josef Salvat explained to HISKIND magazine late 2015 that he’s “had numerous relationships with both males and females which leads his songs to be pronoun neutral”. When addressing Olly Alexander’s use of male pronouns, Salvat thinks “it’s great and gives texture to Years & Years sound”.

It's 2016, not 1950’s America when gays were bizarrely considered as “security risks”. The LGBT community have come a long way to get to this stage and the stigma is close to being obliterated. Demi Lovato’s ‘Cool for the Summer’ hinted at bi-sexual experimentation last year and Jennifer Hudson’s ‘I Still Love You’ video focusses around a gay couple. Then there’s Salvats’ ‘Hustler’ video which was the first to feature a male artist kissing another male, proving that acceptance in the pop music industry is shining through. Billboard senior editor Alex Gale explained to USA Today that “it’s the way these issues are progressing, music is just a little ahead of everyone else in some ways.”

So why does Sam Smith as an ‘out’ gay male refuse to write and sing his songs using male pro-nouns? The In the Lonely Hour singer has been called out for using gender neutral lyrics in oppose to singing and addressing his male lovers. As a Grammy-winning artist, Smith is an icon for the LGBT community but refuses to sing about men and use his global platform to raise awareness or show his pride. Even a week before his album release, Smith covered Whitney Houston’s ‘How Will I Know’ where he changed ‘There’s a boy I know, he’s the one I dream of’ to ‘Oh it’s you I know, and you’re the one I dream of’. Smith defends himself in an interview with Fader explaining that “it’s important to me that my music reaches everybody” but let’s be honest, the world is ready for men to sing about men.

Smith also told Fader in his ‘coming out’ piece back in 2014 that he “had to be careful” explaining “I want my music to be sung by absolutely everyone, just like I listen to straight people every day of my life and I’m not straight”. But the real issue here is that we’re all comfortable with hearing about the same boy/girl relationship, heartbreak and drama. We need queer icons in contemporary popular culture to confront any gender injustice and teach fans that “it’s really okay, to be gay.”

However, back in 2014 Mike Hadreas (aka Perfume Genius) who is also known for his flamboyant lyrics over his past three albums told The New York Times that "I had a lot of people telling me if I toned it down or dealt with more universal themes — which is code for being less gay — I would be more successful and have a wider fan base." Although when talking to The Independent, Perfume Genius confesses that he “wants to stop looking everywhere for acceptance and reassurance that I’m a respectable man and I just want to give that to myself. I’ve gone through my life being apologetic for who I am. I don’t feel like doing it anymore.”

As a white, heterosexual, working-class British woman, there are countless singers out there waving the flag for everything I can relate to. There’s Lily Allen telling me that her man treats her with respect and says he loves her all the time, calling her fifteen times a day, he likes to make sure that she’s fine and then there’s Little Mix teaching me how to look for “Mr Right” and how to “change him overnight”. Hello pop world, we need a loud and clear gay voice for the generation by an actual gay artist.

Dean Eastmond also believes that “it’s inexhaustible important for queer people to make a stand and use the correct pronouns in their work. Sam Smith wants to be this tired face for LGBT people but is too cowardly to take the responsibility of what it means to be queer. It's embarrassing, he wants to represent gay men but won't accept the same responsibility. Whether it's just poor song writing or fear of a poor commercial success on an international level, it's dreadful.”

While homosexual musicians shouldn’t be defined by their sexuality first and their music as a runner-up, they certainly shouldn’t be afraid. Afraid of losing their credibility as an artist or afraid of sales figures. Smith might be ‘out’ but his sexuality is still way, way, way under the radar in terms of his music. No Sam Smith hasn’t personally offended anybody, no he hasn’t purposely hid his gayness from the public but when will the music industry pull their fingers out and hear girls singing about girls and boys singing about boys? He, she, you, them, we, whatever, just make sure you’re being true to yourself.