The music industry, along with all media overall, has always contained heterosexual content made by heterosexual artists. Content which contains romance or love has typically been geared towards heteronormative perspectives, which are very hard to relate to as a queer individual. Even when the LGBTQ+ community has been represented in the slightest, it has rarely ever involved openly lesbian individuals. Recently, there has been a huge rise of lesbian singer/songwriters specifically who have gotten cutting-edge recognition in the field. It has helped many lesbian individuals, along with myself, feel very seen and represented amongst popular mainstream media which is a very liberating, freeing and new feeling. By shining light on Lesbians specifically, it has gained us a lot of attention and also given us a chance to raise awareness about the community. Through this recent rise, we’ve seen how the media depicts openly Lesbian artists as well.
“Good luck, babe, well, good luck, babe. You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling”(Chappel Roan). Well, Chappell Roan has been having great luck (babe) recently! This booming pop artist, who is openly lesbian, has gained over 68.4 million streams per week in mid-June, according to Billboard. Compared to the 2.5 million at the beginning of the year. Her most popular single, Good Luck Babe, earned more than 100 million streams alone. From performing at Coachella and the VMAs, to appearing on Tiny Desk and collaborating with Olivia Rodrigo on her tour, she has made groundbreaking history amongst the industry and has been a huge representation for lesbians. But it’s not only her making history amongst the LGBTQ+ community in the music industry. There has been a recent rise in lesbian singers who have all contributed greatly to gearing music towards queer people and giving them an opportunity to feel represented and relate to heavily.
Along with Chapel Roan, singer/songwriter and actress Renne Rapp has also gained a significant amount of popularity in the past few months. This artist has recently re-come out as lesbian after identifying as bisexual previously. After her phenomenal performance playing Regina George in the new movie adaptation of the broadway musical of the popular teen romcom Mean Girls, fans have been going crazy. Her most recent album, Snow Angel, which came out in 2023 has gained over 800,000 streams with Pretty Girl, the most streamed track on the album, receiving more than 70,000. She has spoken out in many of her interviews about the internal struggles she had gone through before she could admit to the public that she is in fact lesbian and not bisexual. She said that it was almost like she had to “prove” herself to be bisexual, both to herself and everyone else. This is something most if not all lesbians can relate to. She stresses how it took her a long time to come to terms with being lesbian as just coming out as bisexual was hard enough for one who had grown up in a highly homophobic area.Â
Rapp expresses loudly in her first openly gay track What Can I Do, “I’m sorry, but I’m picturin’ you kissin’ my neck. You comin’ over late at night to be in my bed. ‘Cause I swear that you feel it, but then I second guess. I don’t know if you see us how I do in my head”, illustrating the confusion and frustration a woman loving another woman feels when they fall for someone they aren’t supposed to. The doubt of whether to take the risk and tell them how you feel but the fear of losing their friendship and ruining their relationship with a man who doesn’t deserve them, is a shared experience for almost all lesbians.Â
Along with Rapp, Roan presents the queer community with the most raw and genuine representation, which can exemplify real-life experiences that individuals go through. In Redwine Supernova Roan sings, “I just wanna get to know ya. Guess I didn’t quite think it through. Fell in love with the thought of you. Now I’m choked up, face down, burnt out.”, showing how she was starting to fall for a woman she had met without even needing to put much thought into it, but couldn’t explicitly admit to that due to the taboos of the topic. Roan said this song is “the gay girl version” of Oasis’s Champagne Supernova, making it a significant lesbian anthem. In her song Pink Pony Club, she sings, “Won’t make my mama proud. It’s gonna cause a scene. She sees her baby girl. I know she’s gonna scream” including a personal take on the matter, since she comes from a highly religious family who wasn’t very accepting of her sexuality. So she dreamed of one day being an openly lesbian individual who is a dancer at a gay bar/club, even though she knew her mother would never approve.
Through such influential lyrics, these artists are able to provide a safe space for individuals who feel like they don’t belong. Coming to terms with calling oneself lesbian is a journey of its own, and these songs are there to serve as a guide to say we are not alone. It brings people together and helps express the struggles and shared experiences within the community. With their powerful songs and advocacy, we have received a lot more comfort and a place in media which we can call our own.