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Since releasing her single ‘Ghost‘ on SoundCloud in 2014, Halsey has skyrocketed to mainstream success. The New Jersey native singer is known for being outspoken and using her platform to speak out for issues close to her heart such as: women’s rights, her biracial identity, her struggle with bipolar disorder, and LGBTQ+ rights.
The rise of queer pop has seen multiple artists, such as Halsey, to be more open about their sexuality. This has in turn allowed for an increased visibility of LGTBQ+ artists and this diversity translates into their music and art.
Ever since bursting onto the music scene, Halsey has been open about the fact that she identifies as bisexual.
While it is no secret that those within the LGBTQ+ community are still fighting for their rights, Halsey has been very vocal about the discrimination that those who identify as bisexual receive from both the heterosexual and LGBTQ+ community. This is commonly known as bi-erasure.
Halsey has gone on record many times to affirm her bisexuality. She had posted on her Instagram for National Coming Out Day which was met with backlash to which she responded via her Instagram story,
“So I posted on my Instagram for National Coming Out Day that I’m out and proud, and everyone’s commenting like, ‘But aren’t you dating G-Eazy?’ So I wanted to take a moment to make a PSA to remind you that bisexual people, we exist!”
During her speech at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2018, Halsey was honored with the Outstanding Music Artist title. She took this opportunity to again speak out about the validity of her sexuality,
“I’m a young, bisexual woman, and I’ve spent a large part of my life trying to validate myself — to my friends, to my family, to myself — trying to prove that who I love and how I feel is not a phase; it’s not part of some confusion that’s going to change or could be manipulated.”
At a recent show in London, Halsey was seen paying tribute to the lesbian couple that was assaulted on public transit. On the back of Halsey’s shirt, in bold lettering, reads a message of resistance to the ‘straight pride’ controversy.
As mentioned earlier, Halsey’s openess about her sexuality has allowed for it to translate into her music and art. Songs that represent her sexuality and that are stands out for us are:
Bad At Love
Halsey lived up to her promise of trying to include more female pronouns within her music. For the second single off her sophomore album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, ‘Bad at Love’ starts off with male pronouns leading listeners to believe it is about a romance between a man and a woman. However, for the second verse Halsey switches up the pronouns to ‘she’ which highlights her bisexuality.
Strangers (ft. Lauren Jauregui)
Another song off the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom album, Halsey teams up with Lauren Jauregui, who identifies as bisexual, for the song ‘Strangers’. Halsey was adamant about having an LGBTQ+ artist on the track with her and using same-sex pronouns throughout. In an interview with Zach Sang, Halsey calls ‘Strangers’ a “love song for the LGBT community. It’s very rare to see it from a female perspective, [but] at no point in the song does it make a point to say that it’s a gay love song.”
Halsey also had words for those who said the song ‘wasn’t queer enough’ by telling them,
“It literally IS a bisexual story, Luna has romantic relationships with both Rosa and Solis. Her relationship with a man doesn’t nullify her bisexuality. Not in an imaginary music video universe and not in real life either.”
Ghost
‘Ghost’, the song that put Halsey on the map, actually has two official music videos to accompany it. The first one to be released with her Room 93 EP which features the relationship Halsey has with the male love interest. The second version of the video which was released with her debut album Badlands features Halsey with a female love interest in Tokyo. The double feature for the single is one of the first instances in which Halsey brings her bisexuality to the forefront.
Halsey was also featured as the headliner performer for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2018 prior to the anti-transgender comments being made. She spoke out against the company and the Fashion Show saying “As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I have no tolerance for a lack of inclusivity. Especially not one motivated by stereotype.” She instead directed everyone to GLSEN, an organization dedicated to LGBTQ youth and made a donation.
Halsey was also featured on the charity single ‘Hands’ in 2016. This was done in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting which is the deadliest incident of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in US history.
The singer also wrote a Love Letter for the LGBTQ+ Community for Billboard. She wrote:
“And so I shout it. As loud as I can. In my lyrics. In my art. In a rainbow flag waving across thousands of pixels across my stage. I shout it in the faces of the oppressors and I shout it hand in hand with both my beautiful young fans, and the queer folk that I look up to everyday.”
“Our beauty is in every corner of the world. In the fabric of our past. In the glimmer of our vibrant future. We are beautiful. And I am so in love with everything you are and everything you have ever been. This is my love letter to you”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Halsey.
How has Halsey inspired you? Tweet us and let us know! – @umusic
QUIZ YOURSELF! Finish the lyrics to Halsey’s ‘Nightmare’ here.