Janelle Monáe On Coming Out As Queer: "I Was Terrified"

“I had anxiety”…
 
It’s been almost a year since Janelle Monáe first addressed her sexuality in an interview with Rolling Stone, telling the publication: “Being a queer black woman in America, someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.”
 
Now, Monáe is ready to let us in some more.
 
In a new cover story for them, the singer reveals how she felt coming out, the liberation of Dirty Computer, and how it feels to be young, black, wild, and free. In the piece, Lizzo – who conducted the interview – tells Monáe of her own coming out: “Well, listen, sis. People were lit to know that you were queer as fuck. It was exciting,” to which she responded: “I was terrified.”
 
Monáe continued: “I thought people were gonna say, “Oh, she’s doing this as a publicity stunt.” I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to go back home and be at all the barbecues. I had anxiety. And a lot of it was just untrue. It was my fear of what people were gonna say. And I’m thankful that I didn’t allow that fear to get in the way of my freedom.”
 
“I just hope we can get to a point where black women who don’t identify as strictly heterosexual are normalized. It’s about normalizing and telling more stories, and inviting more LGBTQIA+ folks into the conversation on the front end, and giving us a seat at the table early on. Because we can’t afford to see things in a binary way. That’s not how the world works.”
 
Janelle Monáe released her third studio album Dirty Computer last year to widespread acclaim from critics and will continue to tour this summer.
 
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– Janelle Monáe Comes Out As “A Queer Black Woman In America”