Pop star Jessie J ha
s taken to Twitter to shoot down rumors that sheâs a lesbian who was told by her record company to pose as bisexual to be more commercial.
Jessie J: Whoâs Laughing Now, a new unauthorized biography by Chloe Govan, makes that âbisexual coverupâ claim.
Tweeted the âDominoâ singer:
âIts funny how many people Iâve dated/slept with that Iâve never even met according to the tabloids. BUT whatâs that?! *whispers because its a secret* Iâm really a lesbian?! Ha! Thanks for writing yet another boring untrue story. I thought I was still dating Tinie, NO Ellie G, NO Mark WrightâŚ.bla bla bla! #cantkeepup #noneofitstrue.â
For those not up on British personalities, Tinie is rapper Tinie Tempah, Ellie G is singer Ellie Goulding and Mark Wright is the UK version of The Situation from the reality series The Only Way is Essex.
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#BiPride?
DouggSeven
Every female pop star with a large gay following claims to be bi at one point in their career. It’s okay to be straight gals – we won’t judge you because of your sexuality.
JayKay
inb4 she proves her bisexuality is real by making out with a couple girls at her concerts, while exclusively dating men in real life.
nugoyxi
If anything, she claims she’s bi but is really straight or is a barsexual/casual bi woman. It’s none of my business though whether she’s lesbian, bi, or straight.
Pumpkin
Oh, awesome, a comment thread full of vile biphobia. How super.
I saw that headline earlier today and didn’t doubt Jessie J for a second. Rock on, JJ.
Geri
Some people are Bi. Get over it guys.
If Jessie J isn’t really bi then she’s deffinitely gay. It’s well known in London that she was dating the same girl for several years and that they split up when she started getting mega successful.
But anyway, Chloe Govan is an awful writer.
nugoyxi
I’m aware some people are bi but with celebrities it seems to be a “trendy” thing
jason
Female singers are often told to say they are bi in order to build some “connection” with the GLBT community. When they do this, however, they end up looking fake and instructed – ie someone else is telling them to say it.
These “bisexual” women also end up offending a large section of the GLBT community because their “bisexuality” is essentially designed to appeal to sleazy straight guys who, let’s face it, aren’t exactly into the GLBT rights notion.
With male singers, it’s different. Men are instructed to cover up their bisexuality. Record labels won’t tolerate male bisexuality in marketing. There is an extreme degree of male-directed homophobia in the music industry overall, and this manifests as very negative attitudes to homosexuality whether within an exclusively gay male identity or a bisexual male identity.
jason
The other interesting observation is that there is definitely a marketing strategy in the major record labels to promote the notion of females as being bisexual – from Lady Gaga to Rihanna, from Britney to Christina Aguilera…it’s all too common.
These same record labels, however, cannot cope with male bisexuality as a marketing paradigm. They are offended by it. They don’t want anything to do with it. They actively discourage it and won’t sign male acts that might want to use it in their marketing.
Is it any wonder, then, that many of us have grown weary of the women who promote this double standard? No wonder we’ve become cynical of them.
adam
I think Jessie J is a fake female bisexual. These females tend to use the concept of female bisexuality as a marketing strategy to “turn on” straight guys of the type who hate gay guys.
I don’t like these women one bit. They’re appealing to a phony acceptance based on titillation, and not a genuine acceptance.
Geri
@nugoyxi: Since when was being Bi not seen as “trendy”? Certainly not in my life time.
samo
Once again Jason is right. I’m sick and tired of these fake female bisexuals when there are REAL male bisexuals who can’t even come out because it would ruin their career but with women its seen as hot or trendy or no big thing. I will not fall for this bambozelment anymore when gay and bi men are being hated and attacked all over the world. DOWN WITH DOUBLE STANDARDS
Nick
More trash views being expressed on Queerty. Nothing new, since this is after all a gay and lesbian publication. (And I mean that in the most divisive way that I possibly can.) When people come out as gay or lesbian, you believe them. But if a guy comes out as bisexual, everyone is just wondering when he’ll come out as gay. When a woman comes out as bisexual, it’s just for the attention and she’s probably straight. In the case of celebrities, they are just “marketing.”
Geri
@jason: Coming out as bisexual and making a music video for her song “Girlfriend” at the 2008 Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend didn’t seem to do an awful lot for Fannius III’s music career. Epic Records dropped her.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaae4z_girlfriend-i-can-fannius_gaylesbian
Perhaps they were afraid that she is actually a lesbian. But you Jason, you’ll probably look at that video and see nothing but straight girls pretending to like girls to titillate hoards of sleazy gay-man-hating straight dudes. Watch out for those dodgy looking guys cleaning up at the end of the vid.
Charlie
Ok so when you all came out did you have to defend your sexuality to dozens of naysayers? If a female singer were to claim to be bi (though I see no reason to doubt Jessie J) are we all in some way victimized?
nugoyxi
Fake female bisexuals? You do know that women can be bisexual right though?
steve sydney
Eh…
I’m bored by her already.. next..
Mike
Who is she? I’m all for her being out as bisexual.
I think the writer is confusing her with Samantha Fox who was a pop singer in the 80s and who was marketed as being straight and pretended to be bisexual but she is really lesbian but was in denial and closeted about her sexuality for awhile.
G
Oh yeah… Jessie J sounds exactly like Katy Perry… her songs bore me.
Bretelles
Please… Does it really matter ?
Lesbian, bi, straight, trans or anything else : time is come to stop talk about a person with her sexuality or her gender.
It’s really boring to read everywhere “OMG she’s a lesbian !”, “The rumor says he’s gay”, “Maybe he’s a she”, blah blah blah.
If people talk less about that detail, maybe we would have fewer problems.
Talk about her music, is for what she’s famous.
adam
Bretelles,
It does matter because there is a group of cynical “bisexual” females who are attempting to exploit the GLBT movement by pretending to have some sort of connection to it. It’s the Trojan horse scenario. These women are hiding their true intention, which is to use the concept of female bisexuality as a marketing ploy to titillate sleazy straight guys.
I’m always extremely wary when the media uses the female experience to illustrate the gay rights movement. Fact is, women have never had to fight like we men have had to. Keep in mind that, when laws were written against homosexuality, they were often specific to male-male activity, not female-female activity.
I’m not saying that women can never be illustrative of the gay rights movement. However, I’d rather they be the butch, crew-cut type because then you know that they have rejected the fetishes of femininity preferred by sleazy straight guys – eg long flowing hair etc.
cam
I just LOVE how somebody points out that she has dated men exclusively and then will publicly kiss a girl at her concert, and they are ATTACKED for being Bi-Phobic.
I get that some of you cannot seem to have a rational discussion. But just so you know, pointing out a fact isn’t being “Phobic” just because you don’t like the truth.
The only phobics I see in here are the people trying to stifle conversation.
Bryan
@G: I can’t believe I’m going to defend Jessie J who I don’t even like, but she’s a step ahead Katy Perry by a long shot, she actually has really good vocal ability.
What the hell has she done in her life so far that requires a biography?
GG
Is there anything more boring than gay man telling you that they’re bored?
Geri
@adam: You write just like a Jason clone Adam. Same style. Got it right down to a T.
Geri
@cam: “I just LOVE how somebody points out that she has dated men exclusively and then will publicly kiss a girl at her concert, and they are ATTACKED for being Bi-Phobic.”
HuH?
I don’t know who you are talking about. Katy Perry maybe? Or some other singer who has never said she’s bisexual. Certainly not Jessie J.
This is Jessie J
Jessie J Talks About Sexuality Rumours @ G-A-Y/Heaven Nightclub 26/02/11. Sings ‘Love’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFbS2GNg-5M
Here she says she’s “not bisexual, not gay, not straight. If she likes a girl, she likes a girl. If she likes a guy, she likes a guy.” Then she’s sings a song she wrote about her girlfriend “A girl whom I’m in love with.” L.O.V.E.
NB: The lyric was changed a bit for the single/album recording which makes it a bit less obvious that it’s a girl she’s singing about – but it still contains the line: “Love doesn’t choose a boy or a girl.”
Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrwZaMr9IzQ
Jessie J interview on Alan Carr Chatty Man 5th August 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgqtRUsTL2s
She seems more comfortable about being identified as bisexual here and mentions her song L.O.V.E. again and that it’s about a girlfriend of hers.
amo
@Geri: thanks for the links Geri.
I expect queerty to take not and not refer to her as bi in future.
She seems as exasperated at the idea that people call her bi as she is when they call her gay or straight.
Geri
@amo: Well for what it’s worth I think she is bi. But like a lot of bi people she isn’t really comfortable with identifying as bisexual because of all the stigma & baggage that comes with that word.
The real point is that gender doesn’t matter to her and she is very much inclined to be faithful and monogamous – with a girl or a guy. She doesn’t want both at the same time, and like most girls she’d like to find one special person to be with for the rest of her life. She’s a romantic. I wish society would grow up an recognise that a lot of people, especially women, are like this. Their sexuality is fluid and adaptable to the relationship they are in.
Also Jessie has to be very careful about her health – she can’t drink or smoke because she has a heart problem. I really hope she can stay sane & not go off the rails. The pressures of the music business are quite enough without the extra annoyance of people constantly questioning her sexual identity and therefore her honesty. Don’t want to see her end up like Amy Winehouse.
Geri
@Mike: I’m not sure Samantha Fox is an actual lesbian either. I think she’s probably just a woman who fell in love with another woman and didn’t fight it, even though she was clearly very worried at first about how her fans would react. There was a man she was with previously who she also called the “love of her life”.
Fight biphobia it's just as bad if not worse than homophobia
WHAT DOES BIPHOBIA LOOK LIKE?
* Assuming that everyone you meet is either heterosexual or homosexual.
* Supporting and understanding a bisexual identity for young people because you identified âthat wayâ before you came to your ârealâ lesbian/gay/heterosexual identity.
* Expecting a bisexual to identify as heterosexual when coupled with the so called different gender/sex.
* Believing bisexual men spread AIDS/HIV to heterosexuals.
* Thinking bisexual people havenât made up their minds.
* Assuming a bisexual person would want to fulfill your sexual fantasies or curiosities.
* Assuming bisexuals would be willing to âpassâ as anything other than bisexual.
* Feeling that bisexual people are too outspoken and pushy about their visibility and rights.
* Automatically assuming romantic couplings of two women are lesbian, or two men are gay, or a man and a woman are heterosexual.
* Expecting bisexual people to get services, information, and education from heterosexual service agencies for their âheterosexual sideâ (sic) and then go to gay and/or lesbian service agencies for their âhomosexual sideâ (sic).
* Feeling bisexuals just want to have their cake and eat it too.
* Believing that bisexual women spread AIDS/HIV to lesbians.
* Using the terms âphaseâ or âstageâ or âconfusedâ or âfence-sitterâ or âbisexualâ or âAC/DCâ or âswitch-hitterâ as slurs or in an accusatory way.
* Thinking bisexuals only have committed relationships with so called different sex/gender partners.
* Looking at a bisexual person and automatically thinking of their sexuality rather than seeing them as a whole, complete person.
* Assuming that bisexuals, if given the choice, would prefer to be in an different gender/sex coupling to reap the social benefits of a so-called âheterosexualâ pairing [sic].
* Not confronting a biphobic remark or joke for fear of being identified as bisexual.
* Assuming bisexual means âavailable.â
* Thinking that bisexual people will have their rights when lesbian and gay people win theirs.
* Being gay or lesbian and asking your bisexual friend about their lover or whom they are dating only when that person is the âsameâ sex/gender.
* Believing bisexuals are confused about their sexuality.
* Feeling that you canât trust a bisexual because they arenât really gay or lesbian, or arenât really heterosexual, and that someone coming out as bisexual means someoneâs closeted or canât be trusted and isnât telling the truth about their sexuality.
* Expecting a bisexual to identify as gay or lesbian when coupled with the âsameâ sex/gender.
* Saying that youâd never date or enter into a relationship with a bisexual person because they are bisexual.
* Claiming that the rights of bisexuals donât matter and that political and equality for gays and lesbians is more important and pressing.
* Expecting bisexual activists and organizers to minimize bisexual issues (i.e. HIV/AIDS, violence, basic civil rights, fighting the Right, military, same-sex marriage, child custody, adoption, etc.) and to prioritize the visibility of so called âlesbian and/or gayâ issues.
* Avoid mentioning to friends that you are involved with a bisexual or working with a bisexual group because you are afraid they will think you are a bisexual.
Geri
@Fight biphobia itâs just as bad if not worse than homophobia: There’s a few more things which could be added to that list.
Like:
* Expecting someone who identifies as bisexual to “prove it” – either by regularly switching back and forth between same-sex and opposite/different-sex relationships, or by being constantly polyamorous with multiple male and female partners.
* Saying someone is only a “real bisexual” if they appear to favour same-sex relationships.
* Saying someone is a “fake bisexual” if they appear to favour opposite/different sex relationships.
* Saying someone is a “fake bisexual” when they say they are sexually attracted to men and women but are mostly, or only, romantically attracted to one or the other.
* Saying bisexual people are only attracted to cisgender males and females and can’t be attracted to transgender people. (this is also transphobic)
* Saying sexuality is fixed for life for all and cannot change for anyone just because that’s how you feel about your own sexuality.
OtherGonzo
Isn’t amazing how many gays and lesbians know who is a “real” bisexual?
MarieR
I know its none of my business but i just cant help commenting… Personally i think she’s just open with her sexuality in general so she’s sort of bicurious i guess… she likes certain things and is willing to try them on any gender… I really dont think its a marketing strategy because she herself is someone that doesnt care about the media etc I think she’s just experimenting as many young people do and will probably grow out of it coz she does not seem gay at all … Anyhow we all love her no matter her sexuality and her talent is unquestionable :DD
Charlottey
She’s now telling Grazia magazine (whatever that toilet paper is) that she changed her look because she didn’t want to ‘look like a transvestite’. Tbh…I’d much rather watch Eddie Izzard on a Saturday night than some talentless plastic transphobic heterosexist bigot who only got where she was because she conformed to the patriarchal gender norms.
Geri
@Charlottey: Accusing a woman who says she doesn’t want to look like a transvestite of transphobia is very invidious and ill- advised. Especially if you’re a transwoman.
As for accusing an out pop star of being a “heterosexist bigot” – seriously, words fail me.
Lk
Phff who cares if she is bi or straight why put a label on it?
I mean think bout better things Lighten up đ
Geri
@Lk: The debate was actually about whether Jessie is bi or gay rather than if she’s bi or straight. But props to you anyway Lk for trying to show us how broadminded & cool you are.
???????
I think that even though she is bi people shouldn’t say she is straight or lesbian in a paper or anything she is proud to be bi she doesn’t care if she falls in love with a girl or boy and it isn’t outrageous she is happy with a boy or girl like when im old I don’t care if I fall in love with a boy or girl people shouldn’t judge others because of there sexuality and I don’t know why they said she is a lesbian when she is open about being bisexual I am bisexual and I don’t care what people think about me for anything I mean if people judge you so what you choose who you are and people shouldn’t make you change