gay takeover

Troye Sivan credits this “unapologetic” artist for helping usher in the era of the openly gay pop star

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Troye Sivan with bleached blonde hair.

Troye Sivan is a gay artist whose songs are for gay people. But the singer who blooms wouldn’t be able to flaunt and celebrate his sexuality if others didn’t break down barriers first.

In a new interview with Evening Standard magazine, Sivan credits Lil Nas X for challenging the expectations for how pop stars are supposed to act.

“Pop music has an incredible potential and power to reach so many people,” he said. “I think it’s super important that art represents how we’re feeling and that you see people that look like you. I take that quite seriously. That’s why I’m so inspired by someone like Lil Nas X and how unapologetic he is. I hope he realizes how unbelievably influential he’s been.”

Lil Nas X has been shattering norms since he traveled down “Old Town Road,” and found himself giving Satan a lap dance. Most recently, he celebrated his 24th birthday by posting a Playboy-inspired magazine cover shoot.

The provocative pop sensation graced the cover of “Batty Boy,” complete with Playboy-style bunny ears and a collar.

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We are living in the golden age of LGBTQ+ representation in pop music. Kim Petras and Sam Smith are at the top of the charts; queer women like Miley Cyrus and MUNA produce hit after hit.

Homosexuality is so cool, some straight artists are now being accused of “queerbaiting.”

But Sivan says those concerns are just further evidence the gays have arrived.

“It feels, honestly, like we’ve arrived,” he said. “Maybe not politically or socially, but in pop music it feels as though we’ve arrived at the end goal, which is that I honestly don’t even know who’s queer and who’s not any more—which is exactly how it should be.”

While that might be true, there’s no guessing about Sivan. The bottom icon is gay.

He recently spoke about growing up with no queer people in his life, and how meaningful it was for him to watch Lady Gaga speak at a Pride event.

“I didn’t know any queer people in real life, and just seeing that crowd I was like, ‘Okay, so it is out there somewhere, I just have to go find it.’ And I think that that’s what representation really does,” he told Elle.

Now in a position of influence himself, Sivan says he writes and sings directly to queer audiences.

“A big thing for me with this album is, I wanted to write music that didn’t feel like—I’m sorry—bulls***,” he told Them in a 2018 interview. “I didn’t want to bulls*** anybody. I live in this very particular, surreal world where I hang out almost exclusively with queer people.” 

“You know, for me, this is really real life, being able to celebrate these things, being able to talk about these things, and just being as open and honest as you want, and I didn’t want to come to this album writing for anyone but me and my friends.”

Speaking of which, it’s been almost five years since Sivan released his last album Bloom. But the wait for him to come out with new music appears to be over.

The 27-year-old also revealed to the Evening Standard he’s working on his third studio album. He says he was inspired by his feelings of euphoria when going out in between COVID lockdowns in Australia.

He’s also enlisting top talent as Sivan is working with Taylor Swift and Britney Spears producer Oscar Görres on the project.

We can’t wait to hear the finished product, and see what boundaries Sivan tries to push next.

Scroll down for more cute pics of Sivan being his unapologetic gay self…

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