When Beth Ditto gained fame in his band Gossip, he felt that he had a duty to make other queer children in the small town look proud.
The “Standing In the Way of Control” singer grew up in the Southern Baptist Convention of Arkansas. This area is part of what is known as the “Bible Belt,” a region of the southern United States where socially conservative Christianity is strong. Role in society and politics.
Beth moved from her parents’ home, where she lived with her mother and six siblings at the age of 13, to live with her aunt. To help other LGBTQ teenagers who may be experiencing the same discrimination she faced.
Write in the article TheGuardian.com“From an early age I wanted to do something that would help others, but I just didn’t know what it was. After I left Arkansas, things looked clearer. Bible Belt below the Mason-Dixon line – a place that always reminds me that God sees and judges you – that I can get f ** to other queer kids in the small town I had a duty to show * When I started gossip, this was the message I wanted to convey – I don’t think I’d escape the situation where I felt wrong, ugly, ugly, or going to hell. It’s easier than you are. The world is bigger than you think, you are queer, you are yourself, you can be happy. “
Beth, 40, has never been completely satisfied with being a “role model” for the LGBTQ community, but she is happy to accept the title.
Musicians are also pleased to see more gay, trance and non-binary stars openly than they were when she was growing up.
She said: “I don’t think” role models “was a comfortable term for me. I’m not always saying things the right way, especially because I’m not from an academic background. We are just human beings, movements evolve and continue to learn (and who would like to quote what they said at the age of 21 at the age of 40?) .. I had to make music to make a living and I had to do it to be openly queer, fat and femme.
“In the 2000s, there weren’t as many queer role models as they are today. We were especially open about gender.” That’s how we think about gender in the most amazing way. I think we still need more. It’s not over yet. We need to make more trans-gender men visible. More colored women’s trans-gender, more colored people I need more trans-gender men of the species. “
