Recently, Mean Girls (2024) and The Sex Lives of College Girls star Reneé Rapp officially announced that she identifies as a lesbian! In one of the sketches during Rapp’s Jan. 20 appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), she was introduced as “little lesbian intern, Reneé.”
With Rapp being a newer queer female icon to hit the scene, fans all over social media rejoiced since many celebrities shy away from fully using the word “lesbian” to describe their sexuality. Alongside Rapp, many other queer female music artists have recently been making their mark — and importantly so! Embracing openly queer female artists and songs is crucial to destigmatizing queerness and empowering individuals to connect with themselves.
Female music artists have been making waves in discussing their sexualities for some time now, but it’s only recently that we’ve been seeing it explicitly detailed in their music. Over the past few years, artists such as Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, and Janelle Monáe have been public about their bisexuality or pansexuality. Still, they were not immediately upfront about it when their careers started in the late 2000s and early 2010s. In their earlier projects, queer themes were present but not as obvious since there was more of a stigma around it. For example, Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” was inspired by her attraction to women, but the public was unaware of the song’s message until she clarified it.
Today, queer female artists can be unapologetically themselves. Rapp, for example, has alluded to her sexuality throughout her music career since its start in 2022. One of my favorites of her queer anthems is her song “Pretty Girls” off her most recent album, Snow Angel. While the song masks itself as sweet and upbeat, its story is like Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” but from another perspective. It details how some women participate in queer action only for fun, and the emotional effects actual queer women face from it. Rapp says that in her album she wanted to detail all her experiences, “good or bad,” because it was a very personal journey for her. Artists like Rapp being open and sincere about their queer experiences opens the door for listeners to feel guided and united.
A lot of young people before they come out have limited access to queer spaces, or even safe spaces, to figure out their sexuality and feel confident in it. However, in my experience, music has proved to be an overly positive outlet for myself and other young people. Queer artists taking to the stage and encouraging their fans to bring pride flags along with discussing queer themes in their music can make a world of difference in helping people feel seen in their sexuality. I’ve seen many artists do this through TikTok videos, with Rapp being a prominent figure (she knows her audience!) along with other new artists such as Chappell Roan and Boygenius.
Personally, music has been the best way for me to connect with my sexuality. Hearing other artists share their feelings makes me feel seen and heard, even if it might be a very universal experience.
There might be a long way to go for queer artists to solidify their place within the industry, but many continue to make waves now. It is so important for young queer women to feel seen and heard as they figure out their sexuality, which music can play a huge role in. So maybe Reneé Rapp coming out as a lesbian might not be the biggest news in the world, but it’s one drop in the ocean of progress!
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