Here’s why Chappell Roan used to be ‘scared of flamboyantly gay people’

In her newest tell-all interview, rising pop princess Chappell Roan held nothing back. That included her takes on America’s politics, the fan behavior that drove her to make a series of controversial posts this summer, and her complex relationship to her own queerness — which includes, she said, getting over her own ingrained fears about queer folks.

“I was scared of flamboyantly gay people because I was taught that,” Roan told Rolling Stone. “[I realized] people hate flamboyantly gay people because it exudes femininity, and people hate women. Just little things like that that you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, this is so f*cked. ”

Roan continued that though much of her family is conservative and raised her as a Christian, her parents are some of her biggest fans and fully support her coming out.

“It took a lot of unlearning, and there’s still things I’m still confused about, and [it’s] why I feel so uncomfortable being gay sometimes,” she said. “I don’t get why this is such an issue for me. It shouldn’t be, but something’s just going on and I need to just accept that.”

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Roan also gave her thoughts on the state of being queer in the music industry, and that queer pop stars like herself, Billie Eilish, and Victoria Monét (to name just a few) can be openly LGBTQ+ without making it a focal point of everything they do.

“You don’t necessarily have to be out-loud out,” Roan said. “You can kind of silently celebrate if you would like. It’s like, look, I love being gay. I just don’t want to talk about it every second of every day.” 

“It’s so nice that people have started to take queer artists seriously outside of their queerness,” she added.

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Turning down the White House

In a performance at New York’s Governors Ball Music Festival back in June, Roan revealed she’d turned down an offer from the Biden administration to perform at the White House for Pride. Now, she’s shared that she originally planned to do something — in her words — “way worse.”

Instead of turning down the invitation, Roan said she planned to accept, but when she took the stage, she’d refuse to perform, instead reading Palestinian poetry in protest of America’s involvement in the destruction of Gaza.

“I had picked out some poems from Palestinian women,” she explained. “I was trying to do it as tastefully as I could because all I wanted to do was yell. I had to find something that’s tasteful and to the point and meaningful, and not make it about me and how I feel. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that close in direct sight of the president ever in my life. This is my shot.”

She decided against it, she said, when her publicist reminded her of the strings attached to a move like that: “You f*ck with the president and the government, your security is not the same, and neither is your family’s,” Roan said.

Though Roan is still frustrated with the American government, she concluded with a statement in support of Kamala Harris’ campaign for president.

“Right now, it’s more important than ever to use your vote, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community,” Roan said. “My ethics and values will always align with that, and that hasn’t changed with a different nominee. I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historical time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee.”