Halsey has hit back after someone accused her of using the LGBTQ community as a marketing strategy.
The singer posted a photo from one of her shows in São Paolo, Brazil, to her Instagram on July 6, captioned “peak bi gurl evolution.”
The first photo showed her standing on stage, singing, the second showed her doing the same, except with a rainbow Pride flag.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzkL28BpWSm/
However, one Instagram user commented on Halsey’s “peak bi gurl evolution” post saying, “rainbow is the new marketing strategy.”
Halsey – who is bisexual, has been out as bisexual, and everyone who pays even a smidge of attention would know she’s bisexual – was having none of it, commented back,
“There’s been a flag in my show for 5 years. You’re just not paying attention you whiny little baby.” Oof, tell ’em, Hal! The singer’s fans couldn’t get enough of this clapback.
Halsey, who came out in 2015, has repeatedly spoken out about the stigma bisexuals face both from the heteros and from within their own LGBTQ community.
“So if I’m dating a guy I’m straight, and if I date a woman, I’m a lesbian. The only way to be a #True bisexual is to date 2 people at once.”
She also has continuously portrayed same-sex relationships in her music, videos, and choreographed live performances.
Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui publicly came out as bisexual in November 2016, and has said she feels ”motivated” rather than ”scared” when it comes to showing off who she is, as she wants to encourage people to ”find the strength to accept” themselves.
You can’t use the fact that I’m bisexual against me if that’s something I’m proud of. I feel motivated more than scared to share who I am because it makes me feel awesome when someone comes up to me and says that because of me she was able to find the strength to accept herself.”
Talking to Seventeen magazine, Jauregui says she still has her struggles with her image, but says ”every single inch” of her body makes her who she is, and she doesn’t want to change that.
She added:
I’ve had times where everyone’s like, ‘Wow, you look so skinny! You look great!’ And they don’t know I’m in a really depressed place, and that’s why I look like that. I’m all about doing little things that make you feel healthier, like going to the gym or drinking water.
If I’m like, ‘I hate what I’m seeing in the mirror,’ I say, ‘Okay, what are we going to do to fix it?’ Regardless, every single inch and scar is what makes you you.”
PAPER magazine is celebrating Pride month with a series of covers that celebrate and support the diversity, beauty, resiliency, and humour of the LGBTQ community.
Halsey poses alongside model Caroline Miner Smith. They recreate prom poses, make out and generally look bad-ass.
In addition to the fiery pictorial, the singer also opens up about labels and bi-phobia.
That’s something I’ve had to fight my whole life and something I still fight. I still see people on the internet saying, “Of course Halsey says she’s bisexual. It’ll help her sell albums.” I never came out as a musician because I was already out when I started making music. I was out in high school! I was in high school with people walking past me in the hallway calling me, “Dyke,” you know what I mean? That was just a part of my reality. It was also part of my naïveté. When I first started making music, I didn’t think, like, “Oh, well people are gonna be mean to me because I’m not straight.” BuzzFeed wrote this article and they were like, “Is Halsey really bisexual? Because when she did the VMAs with the Chainsmokers, she had long hair. Was that because she wanted the public to see her as straight?”
She continues
It was interesting to me because, for a lesbian writer, it seemed really bi-phobic. It seemed like, “Well, I don’t wanna claim her because she’s dated a guy, or because she’s doing this romantic collaboration with a guy.” And then she’s like, “Well, she hangs out with all these dudes, so is she fucking all of them or is she pretty much just a Lez Bro?” Obviously, she didn’t say it in those words, but she did actually say “Lez Bro.” There’s bi-phobia from the straight community and from the LGBT community. There’s a lack of acceptance. It happens in TV all the time when people write bisexual characters as going through a phase or struggling with something. It’s part of some mental breakdown or rebellion storyline, and that just sucks.
Yeah. It’s like, “Oh, I used to be gay and now I’m straight.” Well, that’s literally not how any of this works, because you can be married to a man and still be a bisexual woman.
Halsey has always been very forthcoming and honest about your life experiences, her sexuality, her bipolar disorder, her past, which is something that her fans really love about her.
I think that being open is a nice thing, because it keeps me honest. That’s a weird thing about having bipolar disorder, too, because people with bipolar disorder – and I’m saying this in a loving way – they just don’t know how to keep their mouth shut about what’s going on, because it’s a defense mechanism. You’re seeking validation, you’re trying to keep your perspective of yourself, you’re trying to keep yourself from disassociating by keeping the people around you aware of who you are so that they can remind you when you forget. I’m telling the world who I am so that I never get the chance to forget. It leaves no room for dishonesty or anything like that, which is really ironic because people think it’s some kind of act.
The hopeless fountain kingdom hitmaker also spoke about groundbreaking duet with Lauren Jauregui.
That song, like many of the songs on this album, just happened. I was going through something [when I wrote it]. The first lines are “she doesn’t kiss me on the mouth anymore/because it’s more intimate than she thinks we should get,” because I was thinking about this person I was spending time with. We were having sex and going to dinner and whatever, but I asked myself, “When was the last time I kissed them on the mouth? I don’t even remember.”
[Originally] it was me singing myself, and then I was like, “No, this needs to be a duet.” I struggled with it for a really long time. I’m not gonna put a straight male on it because he can sing, “She doesn’t kiss me, whatever,” but it’s not gonna be the same and I’m not gonna put a straight female on it, because then that’s just exploitive and weird and makes no sense. The fact alone that I was even struggling to find queer women in my field to get on the song…
And then I thought of Lauren Jauregui, who’s a friend of mine, and the best thing about it is that it wasn’t a compromise. It wasn’t like, “Oh well, Lauren’s openly bi, so we’ll just put her on it.” [Including Lauren] made the song better. Her voice brings an entirely new perspective. She’s an incredible artist and the way that she delivered a lot of the melodies…she really, really made it her own. It just felt so right.”
The duo performed “Strangers” on The Today Show, bringing it to a whole new audience.
The response we’re getting from fans makes my fucking life. The amount of kids who just have just messaged me saying “Thank you for this”… And I get it. I’m a young, bisexual woman and finding that kind of representation in music is really complicated. You don’t want to be limited from listening to music that is relatable to you because you’re a pop music fan. Pop music can often be really ostracizing. It’s just a shame that it’s so hard for marginalized or minority people to get the same pop music experience as people who are heterosexual or generally part of the majority. They deserve the same pop music experience.
I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman and I am so proud of it. It’s hard to accept yourself when you live in a world where nobody is like you,”
Since Lauren has come out the singer says she couldn’t be happier with the reactions and support she has received from her parents and her fans across the world.
In a new interview, Jauregui adds
Coming into my own and being comfortable with myself really changed me as a person. And made me more confident and vibrant.”
She also explains that her parents are “such loving, supportive people, they just love me and who I am”.
A bunch of my fans have come up to me and said, ‘because of you and because you came out, I have finally begun to accept myself’.
That is infinitely incredible for me. I didn’t expect to get to the point where I would own to it within myself.”
Having recently announced her second album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom,Halsey is in the middle of a promotional blitz.
As such, she’s been spilling all kinds of interesting tidbits about her next project, from the breakup that inspired it, to how she rediscovered herself in the process of making it.
The latest piece of information on the LP, though, is about a specific track — namely, the one she shares with Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui.
“This is the first song that I ever wrote where I openly used female pronouns,” Halsey recently revealed to Zach Sang, adding that she tried to keep her previous LP gender neutral.
The songs her new album switch between male and female pronouns, reflecting the real-life relationships that loosely inspired the music.
That’s why Jauregui, who came out as bisexual last November, was the perfect fit for a collaboration.
If I want this song to be believable it needs to be real, so I’m not going to put a girl on the song to sing who’s straight. I’m just not going to do it. So I reached out to Lauren and she came in and she cut the vocal and it sounds awesome.”
Strangers tackles what happens when Halsey’s and Jauregui’s characters meet at a house party.
I just love that Lauren and I are two women who have a mainstream pop presence doing a love song for the LGBTQ community. It’s unheard of. It’s very rare to see it from a female perspective. … Sam Smith obviously made waves making records that were so human and so amazing and emotional that it didn’t matter what your sexuality was, you just identified with what he was singing. That’s kind of what I wanted to do with Strangers.“
It sounds like things are getting serious between Kristen Stewart and Stella Maxwell. The pair have reportedly moved in together after about five months of dating, according (Us Weekly)
The Billboard Music Awards just announced the bisexual singer Halsey will perform a song from her new album Hopeless fountain kingdom at the 2017 ceremony. (Billboard)
Donald Trump has rekindled his Twitter feud with Rosie O’Donnell (LGBTQ Nation).
Backstreet Boy AJ McLean has made a bold statement, saying he hopes both of his daughters (currently four years old and two months) turn out to be gay. (Refinery29).
He told Refinery29:
I will also go on record by saying, and I told my wife this, I hope that both of my daughters are gay because that takes all p***s out of my life — I do not want to deal with boys ever. But if I do have to, they’re going to have to go through quite a lot of trials to go through me because my daughters are my life.”
Alia Shawkat talks about her bisexuality in a new interview. (Out)
I co-wrote and star in a new film called‘Duck Butter,’ which opens later this year,” she said. “I love that it was written for a man and a woman, but we couldn’t find the right guy, so now it happens to star two women [as lovers]. I used to be less outspoken. But as a woman, an Arab-American, and a member of the LGBTQ community, I have to use whatever voice I have. There’s no more delicacy in being quiet.
Halsey – who is openly bisexual – has responded to the not-so-cool Buzzfeed article penned about her sexuality; saying that it plays into bi-erasure, and the minimising of bisexuality in the queer narrative.
It questions her motives for kissing women at her concerts; makes comments about her musical lyric and videos, accusing them of lacking same-sex romance in each; and lays judgement on her social life.
Perhaps Halsey will avoid incorporating too much queerness into her image in the future…. Or perhaps she’ll prove that being an androgynous, bisexual pop star is a real possibility in the mainstream.”
The article even takes a dig out her recent VMA performance with Andrew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, saying,
Her VMAs outfit, however, was one of her most traditionally feminine picks: sparkly white bell bottoms and a tiny matching crop top showing a peek of underboob, the look topped off with a plain long brown wig. She and Taggart might have looked like an unremarkable straight couple to anyone who didn’t know better.”
Halsey has always been open about her sexuality, her past struggles, and her emotions.
She has since deleted the tweets, but she wrote in her denfece on Twitter “Sorry I’m not gay enough for you” and referred to the story as a
tiresome analysis of my 1 year in the public eye and the ignorance of 8+ years of sexual discovery to determine if I’m truly queer. [And it] is part of a mentality so engrained [sic] in the erasure of bisexual ‘credibility’ even within the lgbt community.”
In a recent interview with Nylon, Halsey talked about her sexuality, and shut down claims that she’s putting on a ‘bisexual’ front to try to win over LGBTQ fans.
People will say, ‘Halsey’s pretending to be bisexual to get more album sales.’ I’m like, wow, godd–n, it is incredible that we live in a f—–g year where being queer helps you sell records. Like, that’s a pretty wild development in the music industry.”
Even though she does identify as bi, Halsey says her sexuality definitely isn’t what she wants to be remembered for.
It’s like, Who is Halsey? Halsey’s a singer, Halsey’s bisexual, biracial, and she has a mental illness. That’s meeee, that’s how you sum me up in a nutshell.”
I’m so much more than that. I like to cook and I paint really well, and I play eight instruments. I write, I’m well traveled, I have so many more experiences and talents and interests than these things that I’ve been condensed into.”
Halsey as stunning, new music video out this week. Titled Castle, the single is also featured in the movie The Huntsman: Winter’s War starring Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt.
Unfortunately, Sharon Stone feels strongly that shooting in Mississippi is not an option while the law exists. The other producers have chosen to regroup and find another location.”
Talking of Cara, she joined Hannah Hart, Halsey, and Queen Latifah at the MTV Movie Awards on Saturday.
Kristen Stewart turns 26 and struts a pose for Karl Lagerfeld Chanel’s latest Metiers d’Art campaign. The new ads will target Italy and promote the brand’s pre-fall 2016 line. Stewart has been repping for the brand for about three years now.
Talking of cover girls, Angel Haze cover for Manual – *swoon*
Thank god, there is new wave of inspiring young women out there, which are changing the game on what it means to be a woman.
They’ve created game-changing magazines for teens, spoken out on racial injustice and gender-fluidity, and shattered our ideas of beauty standards.
In a recent piece for CR Fashion Book Amandla Stenberg, Halsey and others talked about what it means to be young and a woman in 2016.
In recent months, Amandla Stenberg has shared her impassioned and thoughtful statements on feminism and racial injustice.
Her video “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows,” which she created for a school project, went viral last year and brought much-deserved attention to the issue of cultural appropriation.
A lot of the time, the things that I’m sharing are things that people are trying to share but don’t have enough people listening to them.
My dream is to direct movies and provide representation for people who end up being token or secondary characters.
I’ve grown up as part of the movie industry, and that’s the most invalidating feeling, to recognize that roles don’t exist for you. I realize now that I need to create them myself.”
Halsey pushed her way to the radio (and into your ears) with the 2015 summer anthem “New Americana,” which spoke to almost an entire generation. Since then she has recieved critical and commercial success with the album Badlands and duets with artists like Justin Bieber under her belt,
Halsey’s voice and reach to the new generation is vast — and she has a key note of advice to share.
I don’t speak for anything. I can’t speak for any experience but my own, and if people can relate to that, then that just goes to show how similar people are despite the diversity. The fact that people of all races and all classes and all creeds are relating to this song when it’s from a very specific perspective is proof.
This generation is so intelligent. They care about racism, feminism, ableism, and that’s such a positive mentality, but they need to leave room for forgiveness,” she said. “Nobody is perfect and people are educating themselves at different paces. So be mindful.”
Check out the full feature in issue 8 of CR Fashion Book and atcrfashionbook.com.
I fucking hate it. The idea that something like that would be trivialized down to a fucking hashtag. I mean, there’s a ton of biphobia—people refuse to accept bisexuality as an actual sexuality.”
And I’m biracial, but also white-passing, which is a unique perspective. So these kids say, like, “Oh, fucking tri-bi Halsey! She’ll never miss an opportunity to talk about it!” I want to sit them down like a mom and go, “Six months ago you were begging for an artist that would talk about this shit! But then I do, and you say, ‘Oh, not her. Someone else.'”
Halsey released her debut album, Badlands, in 2015.
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