Young, Gifted, Black, and Queer: 10 LGBTQ+ Celebs Paving the Way

Lil Nas X splashed onto the scene in 2019, dominating the Billboard charts with his country-hip-hop fusion hit "Old Town Road." Known for his creative and bright style, the artist opened up about his sexuality at the height of his success to help others within the music industry, specifically in the hip-hop and country genres, find the courage to share their truths.

In an interview with the BBC, the Grammy winner said that he never planned on coming out as gay and always thought he'd take the truth of his sexuality to his grave. "But I don't wanna live my entire life — especially how I got to where I'm at — not doing what I wanna do," he said.

The artist has continued to break barriers, becoming the first openly gay Black artist to win at the CMAs. His positive attitude and bravery is a refreshing necessity on social media and in the entertainment industry as a whole.

We've watched Willow Smith open up about a variety of topics at the red table alongside her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Jones. During an episode of Red Table Talk, "Unconventional Relationships: Can Multiple Partners Work?," the musician and artist opened up about her sexuality, saying that she loves people of different genders equally and could see herself in a polyamorous relationship.

"I'm not the kind of person that is constantly looking for new sexual experiences," she said. "I focus a lot on the emotional connection and I feel like if I were to find two people of different genders that I really connected with and we had a romantic and sexual connection, I don't feel like I would feel the need to try to go find more."

Smith's sense of self is refreshing, and her honesty radiates to her fans, opening the door for their own self-acceptance. Smith has also lent her voice to women's issues, racial justice, and sustainability. We can expect her to continue to utilize her platform to encourage the LGBTQ+ community, too.

Actor Sasha Lane has been out as bisexual since 2015, though her previous refusal to label her sexuality is a form of activism in itself. The American Honey star told ASOS magazine, "If my heart wants it, my heart wants it. That's been with anyone. I love who I love or like what I like."

Lane has also commented on her biracial upbringing and the critiques people have made of her Blackness, some calling her an abomination. But she hasn't let that slow her down one bit. The actor has also used her platform to open up about her mental health, lending her voice to breaking the stigma surrounding mental illness, too.

Singer-songwriter Halsey is known for her pop ballads on modern heartbreaks that can bring all the feels out in even the most callous person. Although she's faced criticism and skepticism about her identity and sexuality over the years, Halsey knows who she is and she's continued to own her place in the LGBTQ+ community.

"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," she said at the 2018 GLAAD Media Awards. "It's not part of some confusion that's going to change or could be manipulated."

Currently dating actor Evan Peters, Halsey continues to stand up for her identity while encouraging her fans to do the same.

Singer-songwriter Kehlani is a '90s R&B singer reincarnate, using her smooth tones to bring us songs on the complexities of love. In 2018, the Bay Area native took to Twitter to educate her fans about her queer identity and invited her fans to educate her, too. Living multiple marginalized identities at once can be overwhelming, especially for someone on a large platform. Kehlani has made it clear that she's aware of how what she says and does could make a large impact, and she tries to be sensitive to all the different groups she represents.

"I'm a bisexual woman who has been with men, and a lot of queer women are sensitive to that," she told Paper magazine. "I'm a mixed woman who is white presenting at times, and a lot of Black people are very sensitive to that, so I'm sensitive to that. And I'm a person who has mental health issues, but I live a 'stable life' in the eyes of a lot of people, so I have to be careful when I'm speaking on that."

She went on to explain that pansexual is the label that most closely defines her because she is uniquely attracted to all people. A new mom, Kehlani's openness keeps an ebb and flow of information, education, and acceptance between her and her fans, which promotes open communication and acceptance on what can be very complicated topics. The singer also plans to incorporate pronoun changes in her music, further normalizing diverse sexualities in the entertainment industry.

Amandla Stenberg is a quiet storm of activism. The star of The Hate U Give first displayed the power of their voice when a video they shot with a classmate for history class, called "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows: A Crash Discourse on Black Culture," went viral. Slowly rising into their role as a teen activist, Stenberg came out as bisexual in 2016 during a Teen Vogue Snapchat takeover hoping to inspire Black women to live in their truth.

Two years later, in a one-on-one with Wonderland magazine, Stenberg, who has also come out as nonbinary, shared that they are gay. "I was so overcome with this profound sense of relief when I realized that I'm gay — not bi, not pan, but gay — with a romantic love for women," they told Wonderland.

Stenberg's openness about their sexual evolution puts a face to sexual fluidity, showing others that your identity doesn't have to just be one thing and can change as your life and experiences change, too. "I was flooded with a sense of calm and peace because everything that I struggled with or felt discomfort around finally made sense to me, and once those floodgates opened and years of pent-up pain and shame were released, I found the freedom to live my best life waiting for me just underneath," they said.

British model and social influencer Reece King struggled with his sexuality as a teenager, unsure of where he stood. He told Paper magazine that he thought he was asexual for a while because he didn't have a preference. Being biracial and bisexual wasn't easy, but he finally came to terms with who he was.

"I don't really care if it's a woman or a man, because it doesn't make a difference if I'm in love," he said. "I knew what I liked in my head, but when it came to real life, I didn't really know how to interact." King classifies himself as a digital model and artist and is known for using the art of his Instagram to navigate his masculinity using feminine aspects to create a comfortability within his queer identity.

"I want to make people think, especially about their preconceived notions of gender as a strict binary. I don't think of gender as a box you tick, and I certainly don't think of myself in a box anymore," he told Dazed Digital. His play with makeup and costume explores the fluidity of gender expression and challenges the perception of identity.

Named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people, transgender and nonbinary actor and model Indya Moore champions the underrepresented. They've been open about their sex-work history, upbringing, and more and continued to use their platform to educate others about the transgender community with an unfiltered boldness that can only be admired. They also created a GoFundMe page to raise money for their community. On the page, Moore opens up more about their sexual identity.

Although they often present as femme, Moore identifies as nonbinary, which disrupts the construct surrounding gender. "Binaries force us into performative expectations that none of us purely live up to and when we choose to live outside of those expectations we experience violence, trans & gender variant people experience the worst kinds," they wrote. "Gender binaries aren't just harmful to people who are trans & queer they are harmful to all of us."

One way Moore is advocating for the LGBTQ+ community is sharing the idea of a "gender jar" that their agents at Creative Artists Agency created to hold people accountable for using the wrong pronoun when discussing them. "The more you misgender people, the more you have to spend," they told The Hollywood Reporter.

Atlanta-based rapper Kodie Shane is a self-aware artist intent on shaking up the rap scene with a fluid talent that stems from her own identity. The artist told Billboard that growing up during the Barack Obama administration is what gives her confidence to be proud of the skin she's in — Black and queer. Her youth affords her a relentless energy that rids her of fear.

"I'm growing up, starting to have real relationships, and finding myself within my sexuality," she said to SSense. "I've never been hesitant. That's one of the things I try and tell the youth. You don't have to be scared."

With an ever-changing style that is difficult to replicate, Shane continues to use her pen and paper to charge a younger generation full of confidence, love, acceptance, and bravery in living their life, their way, on their terms.

Kiersey Clemons is dope — and not just because of her role as Diggy in the urban dramatic comedy Dope. The former Disney star told Out Magazine that she's been lucky to be a queer person and have the opportunity to take roles that match her sexual identity, something that tends to be rare in the industry.

"I got a tweet, and someone said, like, 'This person only plays queer people.' We never say anything to white men about just playing straight white men who drink whiskey — and they do it all the time!"

Clemons has been extremely outspoken when people comment on how great these roles are at normalizing queer relationships. Her responses always emphasize that it's unnecessary to normalize what is already normal and that love is universal just as heartbreaks are universal. "It doesn't matter who the f*ck you love, what the f*ck you look like," she told Into. "This sh*t sucks."