Out Artists Make a Statement at Lollapalooza 2021

Like never before out and proud artists arrived to perform at the massive music festival Lollapalooza in Grant Park. Every color of the rainbow was represented in 2021, thanks to acts like Kim Petras, Kaytranada, Omar Apollo and Brittany Howard from Alabama Shakes.

Openly gay Jake Wesley Rogers wore stylish vintage clothing in the media area to chat about his life. He's been singing since birth and went to school at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

He described being on America's Got Talent season seven as “a huge lesson to learn. Any little quick fix that you think will get you to the top, will not. It's the long road that works.”

His manager connected him with another talented gay songwriter Justin Tranter. He talked about working with Tranter as “a story that rhymed.” Rogers talked about famous LGBT heroes like Marsha P. Johnson, Oscar Wilde and Harvey Milk who paved the road for others.

Gay country artist Orville Peck, who like Rogers, spent time in Nashville, described Chicago's drag queens as “iconic” in a private interview after his show. He confessed that he was lucky and had a close family that supported him being gay. “I experienced obstacles as a gay man."

Peck is from South Africa and has lived in five different countries, 20 different cities and grew up traveling around the world. “People think my accent is crazy, but I have lived in many different places. That is why my songs are about traveling.”

His after show in Chicago at Thalia Hall had a large LGBTQIA+ crowd, including Detox from RuPaul's Drag Race and local drag queen Miss Toto, who was in Peck's video for “Legends Never Die” with Shania Twain. 

When asked his thoughts about Lil Nas X, Peck said, “I think he's amazing as a Black, gay man especially in his genre of music. He is unapologetic about his music videos and I love it. He gets criticism and then he doubles down. This gives a voice and availability to so many people that may have never seen that before.”

GoPride asked his goals for his career and he stated, “I am making it up as I go along. Country is where my heart lies and of course I would love to be on country radio. I'm not certain they are ready for me, but I am notorious for accepting challenges. They might need to get ready for me soon!”

He said that country radio started from a very diverse place and was not invented by cis white men. “It was a genre invented by a mixture of cultures and influences. The stigma of what country is now has been perpetuated for far too long by corporations. Now we have incredible people like Brandi Carlile and Charley Crockett. I think we should take our place in country music, because we deserve to be there and tell our stories just like everyone else. In fact, our stories are more important because people have heard all the other ones a million times now. Country music is about telling stories and it's important to have new ones with new perspectives.There is something powerful happening in country music and I feel super grateful to be a part of it.”

His response to taking off the mask, “I forget about it, but I will say probably not. I do think it is important to evolve as an artist, so I will never say never, but I highly doubt it.”

Describing his own music, “If you have ever experienced heartbreak, joy or unrequited love, you could find something in my music that resonates with you. I think we all share the same story at the end of the day.” Look for Peck's song “Dead of Night” featured in the American Horror Story cast reveal video.

Connecticut native, bisexual singer Sir Chloe talked about seeing bisexual Princess Nokia perform and described the act as “amazing.” Chloe went on to say that the rhetoric around sexual orientation has become more open and accepting. “I would like to see a continuation of that.”

Moore Kismet is a 16 year old transgender DJ that identifies as pansexual and uses they/them pronouns. After playing at the Solana x Perry Stage, they talked backstage about the journey of being out of the closet, “Coming out was a bit of a struggle, but my mother was incredibly accepting. I love her so much. She flew out with me for four hours from Las Vegas, because my flight was cancelled. On top of that, she has been walking around with me for the past few days with a back injury.”

Their positive energy was creative and infectious. If we could all be more like Moore, the world would be a better place!