Country Music has a Homophobia Problem
By now most of you have probably already seen the story going around the internet about Little Big Town’s Girl Crush being pulled from country radio playlists in the US.
It’s a ridiculous thing to happen, it’s a ridiculous thing to have to talk about… but here we are, and this is what we’re doing.
And here’s why…
Girl Crush Chorus:
I want to taste her lips, yeah cause they taste like you / I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume/ I want her long blond hair, I want her magic touch / Yeah cause maybe then, you’d want me just as much. . . I got a girl crush.
Those are words to a song about a woman being jealous because the dude she wants is with another woman. It’s a super heterosexual situation that plays out in a really clever and kinda sexy way. It’s a song.
However, radio stations like 104.3 FM in Boise, Idaho (mentioned in the washingtonpost.com story) have been inundated with angry and homophobic phone calls and emails claiming that the song is PROMOTING THE GAY AGENDA.
Are you f*ck*ng kidding me?!
First of all, there is no gay agenda other than this -> gay people would like to have the same rights and privileges as straight people.
Secondly, it’s the year 2015. Are we really still having these conversations?
But here’s what really bothers me the most… Radio stations are actually pulling the song from the air because of these complaints.
Little Big Town is one of the biggest acts in the genre right now. They are white hot, and that song is amazing!
But this isn’t a Little Big Town problem. This is a country music problem. This is a country music fan problem. And this is a society full of people who preach hate, and hide behind their faith problem.
For as long as I can remember I have been painted with a redneck brush because I like country music. It’s all guns and confederate flags and homophobic comments and hate hate hate.
And that’s not me. That’s not most of the country music fans that I know.
But it is some people.
It’s those same people that chant “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”. And the people that picket funerals. And the people that hold up their Bible to pick and choose verses that support their argument while ignoring the verses and lessons that immediately shoot them down.
These people should not be allowed to control the content that is played on country radio. Or any radio, TV, print or web content. These people should not be given the power to have a song pulled from playlists because of their phone calls and emails. These people should not have the power to do anything other than stand on the wrong side of history.
At this point, it’s up to us, the country music fans who know better, the people who know better, to support the rights of artists and radio stations and other country music fans to create and play and love music. All music.
If you feel so inclined, take it upon yourself to send an email or tweet or Facebook message to your local radio station, and other radio stations throughout Canada and the United States, requesting Girl Crush and Kacey Musgrave’s Follow Your Arrow and songs by Brandy Clark and Chely Wright and Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman.
Do it to show that music matters, and the voices of these artists and the songwriters matter.
Do it to show that country music fans are not all homophobes.
But mostly, do it because you love country music.
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Country Music has a Homophobia Problem
By Joshua Murray
By now most of you have probably already seen the story going around the internet about Little Big Town’s Girl Crush being pulled from country radio playlists in the US.
It’s a ridiculous thing to happen, it’s a ridiculous thing to have to talk about… but here we are, and this is what we’re doing.
And here’s why…
Girl Crush Chorus:
I want to taste her lips, yeah cause they taste like you / I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume/ I want her long blond hair, I want her magic touch / Yeah cause maybe then, you’d want me just as much. . . I got a girl crush.
Those are words to a song about a woman being jealous because the dude she wants is with another woman. It’s a super heterosexual situation that plays out in a really clever and kinda sexy way. It’s a song.
However, radio stations like 104.3 FM in Boise, Idaho (mentioned in the washingtonpost.com story) have been inundated with angry and homophobic phone calls and emails claiming that the song is PROMOTING THE GAY AGENDA.
Are you f*ck*ng kidding me?!
First of all, there is no gay agenda other than this -> gay people would like to have the same rights and privileges as straight people.
Secondly, it’s the year 2015. Are we really still having these conversations?
But here’s what really bothers me the most… Radio stations are actually pulling the song from the air because of these complaints.
Little Big Town is one of the biggest acts in the genre right now. They are white hot, and that song is amazing!
But this isn’t a Little Big Town problem. This is a country music problem. This is a country music fan problem. And this is a society full of people who preach hate, and hide behind their faith problem.
For as long as I can remember I have been painted with a redneck brush because I like country music. It’s all guns and confederate flags and homophobic comments and hate hate hate.
And that’s not me. That’s not most of the country music fans that I know.
But it is some people.
It’s those same people that chant “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”. And the people that picket funerals. And the people that hold up their Bible to pick and choose verses that support their argument while ignoring the verses and lessons that immediately shoot them down.
These people should not be allowed to control the content that is played on country radio. Or any radio, TV, print or web content. These people should not be given the power to have a song pulled from playlists because of their phone calls and emails. These people should not have the power to do anything other than stand on the wrong side of history.
At this point, it’s up to us, the country music fans who know better, the people who know better, to support the rights of artists and radio stations and other country music fans to create and play and love music. All music.
If you feel so inclined, take it upon yourself to send an email or tweet or Facebook message to your local radio station, and other radio stations throughout Canada and the United States, requesting Girl Crush and Kacey Musgrave’s Follow Your Arrow and songs by Brandy Clark and Chely Wright and Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman.
Do it to show that music matters, and the voices of these artists and the songwriters matter.
Do it to show that country music fans are not all homophobes.
But mostly, do it because you love country music.
Author profile
creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.
The song is being taken out of context, still, why are you getting on the soap box to try and promote the gay agenda. People that are Christian and want to raise their children in the same manner should not have the gay stuff forced on them. The Bible and God hate the perverse act of homosexuality. There is no part of the Bible that says it’s ok to be gay, it does say that they should be put to death. As far as what year we are living in, that does not matter, the Bible, God’s word is the same yesterday ,today and tomorrow. Really, when you think about what gay men do together, it is perverse and sick. That small percent of he population can keep to themselves.
Hi Charles, thanks for taking the time to comment. I want to make a couple quick points and then we can all get on with our day.
1) There is no gay agenda other than to have the same rights, freedoms and privileges that straight people have.
2) This is actually a question more than a point… Have you read the New Testament?
3) This is 2015, and whether you’re from Toronto, Tennessee or Mississippi, you should have the capacity to accept all people regardless of their race, religion or sexual orientation.
4) As a Christian, I am offended that your comments serve to paint all of us who share the faith with the same damning brush. It is people like you, who hate and preach hate and intolerance that make all of us who believe in Christ look like backwoods fools who are stuck in a time that has long since passed.
You are on the wrong side of history Charles, I hope you will someday see that before it is too late.
Well said, sir, especially comment number four. I’m a gay man myself and also a Christian, and am secure in the knowledge that this is how God created me.
The number of country artists who either openly support LGBT equality (Dolly, Reba, Garth, Carrie Underwood) or who have at least said openly that they would welcome an openly gay country star or at least not judge might be surprising at first blush. But as you’ve pointed out, the problem is not with the performers, it’s with that ultra-conservative segment of the listening public, that same segment that peppered the Dixie Chicks with death threats after Natalie Maines dared to criticize President Bush, that same segment that threw away their Carrie Underwood CDs after she came out in support of equality. I’d wager many of them also have issues with Darius Rucker because he’s black.
It might also be noted that “Girl Crush” is crossing over to get played on a handful of pop stations, including Q102 FM in Cincinnati.
In many cases, the problem is with the listeners, not the artists themselves. The genre itself is not inherently homophobic, it’s a certain proportion of the listenership that gives it that reputation. Dolly, Reba and Garth and more recently Carrie Underwood have been pretty vocal about their support for LGBT equality. Carrie took a lot of flack for that from her more conservative fans. And when Garth released the equality-themed “We Shall Be Free” over 20 years ago, it failed to make the top ten. I’m not sure it would do any better today. I’m sure the listener fan base includes many who are still upset that African-Americans are no longer slaves and women are allowed to vote. Thankfully they don’t speak for the entire fan base (I would imagine Luke Bryan, Chris Young and other country hotties have many gay male fans, myself included)… but they make enough of a stink that they paint the whole country music fan base with the same brush.
The only one “taking things out of context” here is you, sir. Read the article again and read it carefully. The song is NOT about a woman having actual romantic feelings for another woman. I’m not even going to address the rest of your comment because the writer already did an adequate enough job of that – except to say that the same Bible used by bible-thumpers to condemn same-sex relationships has been used to justify slavery and to keep minorities and women as second-class citizens. Nice try, but it doesn’t fly.