A QUEER SEX REVOLUTIONARY

By Jason Reid

I’m totally in love with Lil Nas X. I mean, who isn’t, right? Though what I’m in love with more than anything is the fact that when it comes to his art he is defiantly gay, vigorously queer, proving a point some might say. In an industry that still stifles gayness.

His determination to portray his sexuality in all of its raw and beautiful glory – as seen in his recent music videos, MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) and INDUSTRY BABY – has left many frothing at the mouth, apoplectic that a gay musician dare to do what his heterosexual counterparts have been doing for as long as most of us can remember.

As gay people we’ve heard it all before: Well… sure we don’t MIND you being gay, but don’t force it down our throat *nervous laughter*. Which always translates to: Please don’t ever mention your sex life, that’s far too much for us to cope with (even though we shoehorn straight sex into songs at every given opportunity). Straight sex – good, gay sex – bad. It’s homophobia, pure and simple. I say keep shoving it right down their throats. They can froth harder. And get used to it.

Let’s be clear, what Lil Nas X is doing benefits us all. It benefits young gay people because when they see someone similar to themselves (among the never-ending tsunami of straight, sexualised music videos) who is rightfully unapologetic about his desires, they feel a kinship. It benefits heterosexual people because so many of them are still inexplicably terrified at the slightest mention of gay sex. Time to face those fears head on, lads.

Lil Nas X is pushing that envelope, seeing how much they can handle, probably more than any mainstream gay music artist has done before. He is not compromising on who he is one iota for the sake of appealing to the masses. He is standing up to the critics and defending his right to be an open sexual being. That makes him – in my opinion - a formidable 21st century queer sex revolutionary.

I’m glad that the music industry now has a sex-positive queer role model because it’s been a long time coming and such role models are incredibly important and needed. My only concern is that I hope the backlash from the religious far right in America – which sadly wields far too much power – doesn’t throw him off course. Having said that, I think he passed the point of caring about what they think when he made out with the devil in MONTERO. How hot was that!

You only have to glance at his Twitter timeline to see that he is unafraid of calling out bigoted views. Replying to a tweet that stated: “#LilNasX isn’t fighting for gay rights. He’s marketing the sexual irresponsibility that’s causing young men to die from AIDS”, Lil Nas X said, “Y’all be silent as hell when n***** dedicate their entire music catalogue to rapping about sleeping with multiple women. But when I do anything remotely sexual I’m ‘being sexually irresponsible’ & ‘causing more men to die from AIDS.’ Y’all hate gay ppl and don’t hide it.”

When I think back to growing up in the ‘90s and ‘00s, I can’t recall seeing any mainstream gay music artists openly celebrating their sexuality in this way. Of course there were instances when gay sex was alluded to, mostly in videos that were fronted by female artists like Madonna and Kylie; or on the odd occasion I’d catch sight of some European musics artist tucked away late at night on Channel 4. I was obsessed with Eurotrash.

“[Lil Nas X] is standing up to the critics and defending his right to be an open sexual being. That makes him – in my opinion – a formidable 21st century queer sex revolutionary”

The first music artist I remember being really openly gay was George Michael. The Outside video (2006) was and still is groundbreaking. I think if George was still with us he’d be a big fan of Lil Nas X’s music and attitude.

I’m under no illusion that for heterosexual people who have been radicalised into thinking that anything gay equates to evil incarnate, it must be galling to see sexually proud gay men dancing naked in videos and not only accepted by the majority of society, but celebrated. Perhaps that should give them pause for thought.

I don’t find Nicki Minaj videos objectionable because I’m gay. I merely believe that if it’s good for one, it should be good for all. And I find prudishness very tiresome. If people want to celebrate their sexuality and it’s within the letter of the law, let them. It’s time to grow up.

Hopefully the success of Lil Nas X, who started out as a sweet country musician from the south and shrewdly morphed into a writhing icon, will herald another turning point for queer sex positivity. I can only imagine what his mainstream presence means for queer music artists around the world. That visibility is priceless.

I’m happy that the days of gay people being the butt of the joke, tokenised and desexualised in media and music, is coming to an end. We’re better than that. We deserve more. We are empowered. And Lil Nas X is leading the queer sex revolution in music.