2014: The Year Gay Country Music Came Out
Country fans tend to be on the, er, more conservative end of the social and political spectrum, so you can see why it would be difficult for any country artist to reveal themselves as gay. And that’s the way it’s been for decades, which must have made for a very crowded closet. In 2014, however, there were some breakthroughs. From Salon:
In November, breakout star Kacey Musgraves had a big night. She won Song of the Year for “Follow Your Arrow” at the Country Music Association Awards—Nashville’s biggest night. Musgraves recorded and co-wrote the song, which features the gay-friendly lyrics “Kiss lots of boys/or kiss lots of girls/ if that’s something you’re into.” A CMA award is a hearty endorsement from the industry, and the fact that its voters weren’t put off by the lyrics—possibly because they were sung by a straight woman—might have helped ease Ty Herndon’s nerves. Just a couple of weeks later, Herndon became the first mainstream male country star to come out, as he told People magazine, as a “proud gay man.” The 52-year-old artist, who recently walked a red carpet with his partner of five years, inspired country singer and former child star Billy Gilman to post a video announcement of his own coming out the next day. One more and it would have been a trend.
