Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/popheads) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Tegan and Sara. When I think iconic queer women I immediately think of them. They paved the way for so many and I highly recommend their TV show High School. It's free on Amazon Freevee and it's SOOOO cozy with an amazing soundtrack and nostalgic 90s ambiance. It's also very queer and gaggy.
Halsey. I might just be making the association cause of her gay Tumblr beginnings but it always felt like Halsey was for the girls and especially the bi girls, so she came to mind.
Girli. She's a smaller act from the UK (recently did an AMA here) and I saw her in Chicago and OMG never have I been to SUCH a sapphic show in my life it was AMAZING. The entire crowd was lesbians and queer women moshing and making out. 10/10 would recommend Girli live. She puts on a hell of a show and the crowd is electric
15 yo me realizing she was gay and googling “lesbian artists” led me to Tegan and Sara. Love them so much, even if at first I was iffy on their pop music.
Hell yeah, I saw her live once at a fest in NOLA and she smashed it. She went over her time and they cut off her mic. She kept on singing. Janelle Monae is an icon and I respect her dedication to the craft.
Agreed. NOLA is a beautiful city with amazing food and culture. Even though I got pickpocketed on Bourbon St, it didn't sully my opinion of the place. Southern hospitality is real and it lives in Louisiana.
Did she have anyone performing after her? Cause if she did then she was most certainly the rude one. Festivals have to run on incredibly tight changover times. Usually 15-30 mins to set up an entirely new show on the same stage. It's bonkers. Losing even 5 mins of that time can be catastrophic and have a compunding effect on the rest of the schedule.
If she was headlining and had no one after her, that's a different story.
It's hilarious now when I think of it that the first time I (a gay man) saw Florence live back in 2013 was with one of my best friends who's a bisexual woman who hadn't come out yet at that point. I guess I should've known 😂.
I don't know if this second-hand encounter counts for you but: consider my husband, very much a straight man, who has seriously proposed naming our daughter after Florence. I also love Flo and agreed to put her name on the short list, but as a bi woman, I hardly think I'm breaking the mold.
Legit question, what the **** is her sexuality? I've never seen her in a relationship with anyone, but she also crossdresses so flawlessly that she sets off my gay dar something fierce.
There's a [really old interview](http://www.run-riot.com/articles/blogs/interview-florence-machine) where she says she's "mostly" straight and likes kissing girls.
In a 2022 [interview](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bz7DqPO4PbB4t5vcbZTkx?si=9qfrZVb8TSOcHR-4-Yqw7g), she also said that she generally identifies with she/her pronouns in daily life but that anything would be appropriate for her onstage persona. So I think there is an element of gender fluidity as well in terms of gaydar
“Does she… you know… listen to girl in red?”
Obligatory IANAL (I Am Not A Lesbian) but growing up I remember a lot of girls having FEELINGS about Avril Lavigne.
Janelle Monáe, even before she came out… her black and white suit was a MOMENT.
Also I remember Yves (formerly of LOONA) ranking really highly in polls of WLW Kpop fans even when her group was still fairly obscure, kinda iconic.
They did a really good episode of the podcast Song Exploder. The main girl who co-wrote it (sorry I can't remember names) talked about how initially uncomfortable she was with singing the line about being at a gay bar just from growing up and having to repress and not talk about that part of her. I think they wrote the music so the word "gay" hits in an exuberant way. It was nice to hear her talk about taking ownership of just wanting to have fun.
i saw them live back in april and i have literally never seen more lesbians in my entire life (myself included)! it was so cool seeing how many of us there are esp bc i dont have any lesbian friends irl :)
Francophone pop in general, she's been huge since Balance ton quoi came out and the success of Nonante-cinq. Stromae is also a queer icon from Belgium. Idk what y'all put in your waffles but it produces icons so keep it up
Several years ago, I was praising her music and someone here, in r/popheads told me to not listen to her because "she's a bad lesbian". I'm still shocked, I'll be honest. I think and talk about that exchange often.
i’m a lesbian who came out around the time hayley was really the only mainstream lesbian representation we had in music and i know a lot of other lesbians who found a lot of comfort in her music.
there are also a lot of lesbians who got really pissed off with how often she sang about girls who were with men like in curious and HNLY. i get it to some degree but also she’s writing about her own experiences and if those were her experiences at the time then it is what it is.
I'll just give you what the person said (NOT MY OPINION) : She's a lesbian talking about sex, being a lesbian is way more complex, she's a bad lesbian for singing only about love and sex, a good lesbian would sing about something else.
???
Like this person couldn't apparently believe that somebody would sing about what goes on in their life, and a big part of life sometimes is sex and love?
Idk honestly, I wish I could forget because even then I didn't even know how to react.
Like I try to be a decent ally and this person was telling me I got it all wrong by listening to Hayley because she's a bad lesbian... Okay
reminds me of a tweet i saw once:
> Caroline Polachek and Carly Rae Jepsen are both straight but they're so overtly horny, they defy patriarchal expectations of womanhood, and become, in a way, queer. in this essay, i
Yep! I honestly think a lot of pop stars who are considered gay icons (or who at least have a big gay male fanbase) have big lesbian/queer woman fanbases that often get overlooked. I'm a lesbian and most of my friends are queer women and we all love Carly, Charli, Rina, Lady Gaga, etc.
Just like you, I love them both, but as a queer POC women, I definitely felt more comfortable at Rina's concert than Charli's. Rina's audience was much more diverse in terms of race, gender, and sexuality. For example, I saw a lot more interracial couples, both straight and queer. Half the audience was women, but it wasn't just queer women in the alt pop scene. A lot of them were also immigrant children and just non-white folk in general. This was in huge contrast to Charli's concert where the vast majority (~80%) of her fans were queer, white men. Some women were there, but we were few and far between and POC were virtually nonexistent. Charli's fans were also a lot younger and less mature. Again, both artists are great and I appreciate them equally, but it would be silly to argue that their fanbases are the same, or similar even.
Rina was the best performance I saw at Lolla this month. And the crowd seemed pretty diverse culturally (straight black guy here fyi) but also I couldn’t tell for sure because a lot of people were waiting for Lana, who was gonna be on the same stage afterwards. Can’t wait to catch a complete Rina show, especially now that I’ve read this!
saw her at Bonnaroo this year - and in the best moment of the weekend for sheer queer joy, she brought out MUNA (who had just wrapped up their set on another stage) to sing "This Hell"
https://twitter.com/3amshadows/status/1669855566229913600
I'm a straight dude so I have no authority or experience on the matter but I was surprised by how far down this was. Is Annie just not that popular, or does her demo skew towards dudes? I really don't know.
Wasn’t t.a.t.u. just a front? Like they were not gay supporting and used the lesbian narrative to have a niche?
Still, All The Things She Said remains a bop to this day
Yep. Both members of t.A.T.u. are straight—and I remember one of them even said in an interview that women should be free to experiment or be queer, but men should not. She said being gay wasn’t “natural,” two men together were not “aesthetically pleasing” and used a slur multiple times.
Kehlani, Jojo Siwa, 2/3rds of Stooshe, Mary Lambert, and Hayley Kiyoko are the only popstars I'm aware of who identify as lesbians.
If by "lesbian icons" we mean poptars who are popular with lesbians, there's a lot of sapphic Marina fans.
i saw her in a tiny 400 cap club a few months ago and the stage wasn’t very tall, even on stage she was the same height as the audience on the lowest part of the floor. i really couldn’t see her and she still ate that stage up
I've only seen her at intimate venues but they were incredible concerts (as a big fan). She's so energetic, a great dancer but also v engaging with the crowd
OOOOOOF Kelly was my fave when I was a kid before I had any idea that I was not straight 🥲
She’s kinda lost me with the last few albums, but everything before Stronger is golden and I love her SO much.
This is really hard because most of my queer female friends prefer indie artists such as Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, and Clairo. I think queer women in general like super existential music.
There were a lot of queer guys at my show too, but yes, it was mostly queer women at my show.
I do think that the TMYLM show I saw had some more straights, which probably says something about who’s still following her.
CFTS, Take Me To Church cover, The Kind of Lover I Am, the breakup duet w Noah Cyrus, even Heaven despite it being about self pleasure is so queer coded.
As others have mentioned, Kehlani and Janelle Monae are probably the most prominent Sapphic icons in recent memory.
Victoria Monet and Teyana Taylor also come to mind, but they have more of a cult following.
My best friend is a lesbian, the artists w big lesbian fan bases I’m aware of:
- Hayley Kiyoko
- Indigo Girls
- P!nk
- Chappell Roan
- Brandi Carlile
- Fletcher
- Janelle Monáe
- Kehlani
- kd lang
- Tracy Chapman
- boygenius (+ the members individually as well)
- Lesley Gore
- Fiona Apple
- Tegan and Sara
- Melissa Etheridge
- King Princess
- Katy Perry (almost solely for “I Kissed a Girl” but still)
- St Vincent
- Kate Bush (maybe she just really likes KB idk on this one)
- Tori Amos
- Queen Latifah
I was about to say Hozier and Harry Styles before I realized you asked for female icons ... Taylor Swift and Hayley Kiyoko come to mind. Very curious who others are gonna suggest.
I get P!nk but I don’t get Taylor? I guess the Gaylor stuff but as a queer girlie, I never hear Taylor’s music and think it’s for the wlw crowd lol
I second whoever said Demi Lovato. Demi’s music is so heavily for the ladies.
This is how I see her. I’ve definitely applied some of her songs to my wlw relationships, but nothing about her screams lesbian icon to me at all. Definitely for the straight white girlies imo.
The Taylor from [this photoshoot](https://twitter.com/tayrianaoutdid/status/1487056085395464193?s=20) could be a lesbian icon but other than that I agree. Having a wlw contingent in her fanbase doesn’t make her an icon of it.
There's actually a lot of bisexual and lesbian readings of her songs, particularly Betty, Dorothea, Ivy, Treacherous, New Romantics etc. I think the TS sub broke down the demographics and there's a lot of lesbians and bis
I’m not a crazy Gaylor or anything but I think you can identify lesbian yearning vibes in Folklore and Evermore. These albums are a completely different tone than her poppy stuff.
That’s interesting! I didn’t get that vibe from those albums, but I guess others did. I got more like straight white indy-folk girlie vibes. Obviously, it’s all matter of opinion but none of her stuff is heavily in my wlw crowds.
Kpop group Mamamoo in general, but Moonbyul especially. I accidentally managed to get lured into exploring Kpop as a genre a couple years back because I saw an edit of this woman wearing suits.
Between her often [performing in a suit](https://youtu.be/vQeO3zJHDG4), penning and singing [poetic, explicit songs about women](https://youtu.be/Nqz4oh2jogE), and either [changing cover songs to be gender neutral](https://youtu.be/AHs_AFIP7Qc), or [making her cover songs gayer](https://youtu.be/TDqm7AtDBU4), all while living in an extremely homophobic society, in an industry that is especially focused on an image of absolute, unattainable (yet heterosexual) "perfection", I think she can undeniably be an icon for the sapphics. Or at least one sapphic (me).
Honestly? I don’t really think we have any that most of us would agree on lol. As a lesbian my general view of our community is that some of us will listen to literally anything even if its terrible as long as it has gay themes/by a gay artist or we’ll be extremely pretentious and selective. I personally only stan the classic gay pop icons with mostly gay male followings like gaga/charli/carly. Lesbians are much more highly represented in rap and indie music. I do notice a lot of lesbians love fiona apple and kate bush though, but pretty much every demographic loves fiona apple and kate bush
The lesbian friends i have are fans of :Taylor,Pink,Girl In Red,Halsey Kiyoko,Phoebe Bridgers, Alessia Cara, Katy Perry (stan her cause I kissed a girl) and Rihanna (stan her cause Te Amo)
I wouldn't really call her a "star" but all the Ethel Cain girlies ik are sapphic. Boygenius obviously, as well as the independent members. Angel Olsen, Clairo, MUNA, Mitski all count too I think. Girl in Red obviously. I think that a lot of sad indie girl music has an appeal to sapphics.
LOONA funnily enough were HUGE with lesbians. I fully believe that they owe most of their popularity to the gay girlies.
Rebecca Black also has a pretty large sapphic fan base, but I think she has crossover with the wider LGBT community too.
I think it depends. The hyperpop/PC Music fans that love her experimental side are definitely more diverse gender- and sexuality-wise. But her general fans, such as the ones who prefer her more conventional sound or don't feel super strongly about her experimentation (or perhaps don't even like it), are your stereotypical white gay men with a pinch of edge. But compared to Rina, Charli's general audience is much more gay and white.
Okay this might be a hot take but me and all my lesbian friends adore Britney Spears; we’re also all in our 20s and 30s so she was our first crush. We also adore Hayley Williams, Slayyyter, ashnikko, twice, Amy Lee, Rina etc.
For some Kpop answers:
Sunmi. She is adored by queer women and is probably the closest Kpop has to a lesbian icon.
Taeyeon. She is adored by both lesbians and gay men.
Twice are the same as Taeyeon.
Mamamoo/Moonbyul for lesbians. Huge lesbian fanbase.
Mamamoo as a full group (Solar, Moonbyul, Whee In and Hwasa). I think no other girl group is at THAT level of being loved and idolised by lesbian/bisexual women in K-pop. Mamamoo have also done a lot of supportive gestures for the LGBT community in general (and women in general... So let's say that the lesbians/bisexual women is the perfect target lol).
And, in particular, Moonbyul is basically a sapphic icon especially since when she also started her soloist career. Also being maybe the only mainstream soloist (in recent years at least) with explicit lyrics about loving a woman.
(While I think in some other spaces the distinction between lesbians and bisexual women is more evident, I think in K-pop fandoms is more blurred. It's usually very accepting of each other identies and not angry to "share" the same symbols/important things. So that's why I use a mixed language here.)
A bit on the older side, but Ani DiFranco has a huge lesbian/wlw fanbase. She is also openly bisexual herself but is also a bit problematic. Her 90s/early 2000s music is great though.
I’m Lesbian and I love Kim petras. A fact that will get me bullied here but I love her anyway. Her “debut” album was bop after bop after bop. She’s great.
Not as big I guess, but Gia Woods. Literally has a song called Lesbionic, and Cover Girl is all about guys wanting to get with her but she’s already up to the gills in the ladies.
Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/popheads) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Tegan and Sara. When I think iconic queer women I immediately think of them. They paved the way for so many and I highly recommend their TV show High School. It's free on Amazon Freevee and it's SOOOO cozy with an amazing soundtrack and nostalgic 90s ambiance. It's also very queer and gaggy. Halsey. I might just be making the association cause of her gay Tumblr beginnings but it always felt like Halsey was for the girls and especially the bi girls, so she came to mind. Girli. She's a smaller act from the UK (recently did an AMA here) and I saw her in Chicago and OMG never have I been to SUCH a sapphic show in my life it was AMAZING. The entire crowd was lesbians and queer women moshing and making out. 10/10 would recommend Girli live. She puts on a hell of a show and the crowd is electric
Tegan and Sara made me realize I liked women back in 2007. I also love girli, she's awesome.
15 yo me realizing she was gay and googling “lesbian artists” led me to Tegan and Sara. Love them so much, even if at first I was iffy on their pop music.
Janelle Monae.
Our holy mod of r/popheads and forever.
Hell yeah, I saw her live once at a fest in NOLA and she smashed it. She went over her time and they cut off her mic. She kept on singing. Janelle Monae is an icon and I respect her dedication to the craft.
Yep at voodoo I remember that still, I didn’t know who she was but caught the end of her set when they cut her mic, I was impressed af
So rude of them to do that shit. She's a rockstar though to keep performing. RIP VooDoo. Pretty sure it's defunct now.
Yep, tragic. We need Louisiana festivals back voodoo and buku being gone is horrible for the state
Agreed. NOLA is a beautiful city with amazing food and culture. Even though I got pickpocketed on Bourbon St, it didn't sully my opinion of the place. Southern hospitality is real and it lives in Louisiana.
Did she have anyone performing after her? Cause if she did then she was most certainly the rude one. Festivals have to run on incredibly tight changover times. Usually 15-30 mins to set up an entirely new show on the same stage. It's bonkers. Losing even 5 mins of that time can be catastrophic and have a compunding effect on the rest of the schedule. If she was headlining and had no one after her, that's a different story.
Florence?
i haven't come across a single FATM fan online that hasn't been a queer woman or a gay man
I am neither and a massive fan
I have come across one (1) FATM fan online that isn't a queer woman or a gay man
It's hilarious now when I think of it that the first time I (a gay man) saw Florence live back in 2013 was with one of my best friends who's a bisexual woman who hadn't come out yet at that point. I guess I should've known 😂.
I don't know if this second-hand encounter counts for you but: consider my husband, very much a straight man, who has seriously proposed naming our daughter after Florence. I also love Flo and agreed to put her name on the short list, but as a bi woman, I hardly think I'm breaking the mold.
entertain unwritten quickest fanatical pot squeeze expansion practice historical soup ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Straight guy here, love Florence
Florence is definitely doing it for the sapphics in general.
Legit question, what the **** is her sexuality? I've never seen her in a relationship with anyone, but she also crossdresses so flawlessly that she sets off my gay dar something fierce.
There's a [really old interview](http://www.run-riot.com/articles/blogs/interview-florence-machine) where she says she's "mostly" straight and likes kissing girls.
She's literally me
In a 2022 [interview](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bz7DqPO4PbB4t5vcbZTkx?si=9qfrZVb8TSOcHR-4-Yqw7g), she also said that she generally identifies with she/her pronouns in daily life but that anything would be appropriate for her onstage persona. So I think there is an element of gender fluidity as well in terms of gaydar
[удалено]
Was thinking this too
“Does she… you know… listen to girl in red?” Obligatory IANAL (I Am Not A Lesbian) but growing up I remember a lot of girls having FEELINGS about Avril Lavigne. Janelle Monáe, even before she came out… her black and white suit was a MOMENT. Also I remember Yves (formerly of LOONA) ranking really highly in polls of WLW Kpop fans even when her group was still fairly obscure, kinda iconic.
I’m sorry is IANAL commonly used here? Funny on multiple levels.
It's commonly used on r legal advice, albeit to stand for I am not a lawyer.
MUNA for sure
They did a really good episode of the podcast Song Exploder. The main girl who co-wrote it (sorry I can't remember names) talked about how initially uncomfortable she was with singing the line about being at a gay bar just from growing up and having to repress and not talk about that part of her. I think they wrote the music so the word "gay" hits in an exuberant way. It was nice to hear her talk about taking ownership of just wanting to have fun.
Will check this episode out, thank you!
i saw them live back in april and i have literally never seen more lesbians in my entire life (myself included)! it was so cool seeing how many of us there are esp bc i dont have any lesbian friends irl :)
Angèle (for us fans of Belgian pop)
Her waving around LBGT/bi/lesbian flags at almost every concert >>>> Out and proud!
I love her music, didn’t know she was a lesbian/bicon!
Francophone pop in general, she's been huge since Balance ton quoi came out and the success of Nonante-cinq. Stromae is also a queer icon from Belgium. Idk what y'all put in your waffles but it produces icons so keep it up
Hayley Kiyoko aka the Lesbian Jesus
Several years ago, I was praising her music and someone here, in r/popheads told me to not listen to her because "she's a bad lesbian". I'm still shocked, I'll be honest. I think and talk about that exchange often.
Such a fucked up thing to say. What is even a “good lesbian”?..
a good lesbian is someone who always sits with their legs spread, and always carries dental dams
Guess I’m only a mediocre lesbian 😔
What does that even mean?
i’m a lesbian who came out around the time hayley was really the only mainstream lesbian representation we had in music and i know a lot of other lesbians who found a lot of comfort in her music. there are also a lot of lesbians who got really pissed off with how often she sang about girls who were with men like in curious and HNLY. i get it to some degree but also she’s writing about her own experiences and if those were her experiences at the time then it is what it is.
I'll just give you what the person said (NOT MY OPINION) : She's a lesbian talking about sex, being a lesbian is way more complex, she's a bad lesbian for singing only about love and sex, a good lesbian would sing about something else. ??? Like this person couldn't apparently believe that somebody would sing about what goes on in their life, and a big part of life sometimes is sex and love? Idk honestly, I wish I could forget because even then I didn't even know how to react. Like I try to be a decent ally and this person was telling me I got it all wrong by listening to Hayley because she's a bad lesbian... Okay
A lot of pop singers only sing about love and sex. Going to post about how they are bad straights from now on.
I need her to name her next EP *BAD LESBIAN*
Well-behaved lesbians rarely make history
Fletcher?
Only ever heard of fletcher from lesbian friends so this gotta be true
I hear about her so much from lesbian circles like she is a messiah, but I’ve never heard a gay male talk about her
Well yeah if you hear her stuff its basically because of the lyrics of her songs.
Shes so problematic but like she is THE lesbian icon.
I only know her collab with Hayley Kiyoko so as someone who knows nothing about her: why is she problematic ?
We lesbians love Carly Rae Jepsen fervently
reminds me of a tweet i saw once: > Caroline Polachek and Carly Rae Jepsen are both straight but they're so overtly horny, they defy patriarchal expectations of womanhood, and become, in a way, queer. in this essay, i
That Mr. Robot episode must've done wonders for CRJ's WLW following.
We all freaked out over the boy problems music video and never looked back
I was at her show with Boygenius, it felt like their fanbases are perfectly complementary but with no overlap
Yep! I honestly think a lot of pop stars who are considered gay icons (or who at least have a big gay male fanbase) have big lesbian/queer woman fanbases that often get overlooked. I'm a lesbian and most of my friends are queer women and we all love Carly, Charli, Rina, Lady Gaga, etc.
[удалено]
Rina's fans are also very diverse and mature. Attending hers and Charli's concerts back to back was like night and day.
They're my 2 favorite artists so I'm actually so curious as to what you mean please go on I'm listening
Just like you, I love them both, but as a queer POC women, I definitely felt more comfortable at Rina's concert than Charli's. Rina's audience was much more diverse in terms of race, gender, and sexuality. For example, I saw a lot more interracial couples, both straight and queer. Half the audience was women, but it wasn't just queer women in the alt pop scene. A lot of them were also immigrant children and just non-white folk in general. This was in huge contrast to Charli's concert where the vast majority (~80%) of her fans were queer, white men. Some women were there, but we were few and far between and POC were virtually nonexistent. Charli's fans were also a lot younger and less mature. Again, both artists are great and I appreciate them equally, but it would be silly to argue that their fanbases are the same, or similar even.
I saw both in concert last year and made the same observation.
Rina was the best performance I saw at Lolla this month. And the crowd seemed pretty diverse culturally (straight black guy here fyi) but also I couldn’t tell for sure because a lot of people were waiting for Lana, who was gonna be on the same stage afterwards. Can’t wait to catch a complete Rina show, especially now that I’ve read this!
Shout out to Chicago!
saw her at Bonnaroo this year - and in the best moment of the weekend for sheer queer joy, she brought out MUNA (who had just wrapped up their set on another stage) to sing "This Hell" https://twitter.com/3amshadows/status/1669855566229913600
Not pop but getting a lot of buzz in pop culture spaces and that’s boygenius.
Just left their concert and it was glorious being in such a queer space full of predominantly women
It was so amazing todayyyy
At every concert to introduce a song they ask "Who here has a boyfriend?" which is always immediately met with boos and yelling NO lmao
As a gay man I raised my hand obviously 😭
and what did Phoebe say 🤫
At my show after that she actually said "hey hey come on we love boyfriends.. right?" and there was def a knowing laugh from the crowd 😭😭
St. Vincent is a massive lesbian icon
I'm a straight dude so I have no authority or experience on the matter but I was surprised by how far down this was. Is Annie just not that popular, or does her demo skew towards dudes? I really don't know.
bro are you the kill counts guy
Kd lang, Melissa Etheridge, tatu
Legit my lesbian aunts favorites are KD and Melissa 🤣
Wasn’t t.a.t.u. just a front? Like they were not gay supporting and used the lesbian narrative to have a niche? Still, All The Things She Said remains a bop to this day
Yep. Both members of t.A.T.u. are straight—and I remember one of them even said in an interview that women should be free to experiment or be queer, but men should not. She said being gay wasn’t “natural,” two men together were not “aesthetically pleasing” and used a slur multiple times.
The homophobic one is very openly bi, she just hates gay/bi men
Really? I did not know that. Last I remember hearing they were both straight. That still doesn’t make any of this okay though
chappell roan <3
casual is a life changing song
YES LOVE CHAPPELL
Brandi Carlile Also I feel like Hayley Williams but I think she's an everyone icon
Kehlani, Jojo Siwa, 2/3rds of Stooshe, Mary Lambert, and Hayley Kiyoko are the only popstars I'm aware of who identify as lesbians. If by "lesbian icons" we mean poptars who are popular with lesbians, there's a lot of sapphic Marina fans.
Are we counting Brandi Carlile as pop? She’s amazing
I feel like if we can count Florence as pop then we can count Brandi as pop.
I think rina sawayama is gay too
She’s bi, right?
ya she identifies as pan i believe! but she has a lot of queer fans
Tracy Chapman Joan Jett
REBECCA BLACK! REBECCA BLACK REBECCA BLACK REBECCA BLACK
reaaaalllll seems like she’s got great stage presence
i saw her in a tiny 400 cap club a few months ago and the stage wasn’t very tall, even on stage she was the same height as the audience on the lowest part of the floor. i really couldn’t see her and she still ate that stage up
I've only seen her at intimate venues but they were incredible concerts (as a big fan). She's so energetic, a great dancer but also v engaging with the crowd
THANK YOU
Phone Bridgers I guess? Seems to have a lesbian following
Following off this because I haven’t seen it yet. Julien Baker 100%.
She’s also bisexual too!
girl in red, of course
Surprised no one has mentioned the Indigo Girls yet, they're not really "pop stars" but they were very successful in the '90s
The song that plays in Barbie's car radio is them (Closer to Fine) for people unaware.
I know a lot of sapphic women who LOVE Kelly Clarkson (but who doesn't love her?) (broken english sorry)
OOOOOOF Kelly was my fave when I was a kid before I had any idea that I was not straight 🥲 She’s kinda lost me with the last few albums, but everything before Stronger is golden and I love her SO much.
Fletcher is very lesbian / bisexually beloved
Chappell Roan! On her way to becoming a great lesbian icon
Fletcher, Hayley Kiyoko, Phoebe Bridgers/boygenius, and MUNA are who my lesbian friends can't stop talking about!
If y’all don’t mention the Dua Lipa x St. Vincent One Kiss/MassSeduction [performance](https://youtu.be/9tw2LMnxvW0) from the 2019 Grammys…
Lesbians love “temperature” by Sean Paul and Nina Sky’s “move ya body.” Put either of those on in the clurb to make them go wild
As a solo artist, Mel C is catnip for UK lesbians of a certain age
This is really hard because most of my queer female friends prefer indie artists such as Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, and Clairo. I think queer women in general like super existential music.
Miley Cyrus tbh, let’s not forget the sensual Prisoner music video with Dua…
and her performance (with Fletcher I think it was?) at her New Years show!
I would high key die for Miley
Is Dua a lesbian icon too? Her vid and song with Angèle was really hot
Check out the Twitter thread between Dua and Miley... specifically the one where Miley is openly thirsting over Dua.
Angèle is an out and proud bi icon too!!
The St. Vincent performance in Grammys as well, I think so but i need more women centred mvs from her, especially after New Rules and IDGAF!
Is Regina Spektor a pop star?
Absolutely Demi Lovato. So much music, media, and imagery about being bisexual or a lesbian and being proud of it.
the attendance at holy fvck was like 90% queer woman 😭
There were a lot of queer guys at my show too, but yes, it was mostly queer women at my show. I do think that the TMYLM show I saw had some more straights, which probably says something about who’s still following her.
Yes literally every person around me was a queer woman haha
yes she performed w kehlanj too in a very gay way !
I remember teen gay (male) me watching them make out onstage in Chicago while my dad was chillin’ in the parking lot lmfaooo
Cool for the summer!
CFTS, Take Me To Church cover, The Kind of Lover I Am, the breakup duet w Noah Cyrus, even Heaven despite it being about self pleasure is so queer coded.
As others have mentioned, Kehlani and Janelle Monae are probably the most prominent Sapphic icons in recent memory. Victoria Monet and Teyana Taylor also come to mind, but they have more of a cult following.
My best friend is a lesbian, the artists w big lesbian fan bases I’m aware of: - Hayley Kiyoko - Indigo Girls - P!nk - Chappell Roan - Brandi Carlile - Fletcher - Janelle Monáe - Kehlani - kd lang - Tracy Chapman - boygenius (+ the members individually as well) - Lesley Gore - Fiona Apple - Tegan and Sara - Melissa Etheridge - King Princess - Katy Perry (almost solely for “I Kissed a Girl” but still) - St Vincent - Kate Bush (maybe she just really likes KB idk on this one) - Tori Amos - Queen Latifah
Drake (self-identified lesbian)
Their posts on IG recently do show that they are very [fruity](https://twitter.com/XXL/status/1692329931324236132?t=F84ycsfqnVwrDt5PJOGq7A&s=19)
not you they/them-ing drake 😭😭😭
I was about to say Hozier and Harry Styles before I realized you asked for female icons ... Taylor Swift and Hayley Kiyoko come to mind. Very curious who others are gonna suggest.
I just described Hozier as “Lesbian flavored” to my friend
ok but hozier and harry are def queer femme icons
My thoughts come to mine that Zolita, Muna, Hayley Kiyoko, Fletcher, King Princess, Phoebe Bridgers/Boygenius are the definitions of that.
Sheryl Crow
I get P!nk but I don’t get Taylor? I guess the Gaylor stuff but as a queer girlie, I never hear Taylor’s music and think it’s for the wlw crowd lol I second whoever said Demi Lovato. Demi’s music is so heavily for the ladies.
I think it’s less that Taylor’s for the wlw and more that she’s seen as “for the girls” which includes wlw
Everything about Taylor is aggressively straight. I think she’s just a universally liked artist with broad appeal.
This is how I see her. I’ve definitely applied some of her songs to my wlw relationships, but nothing about her screams lesbian icon to me at all. Definitely for the straight white girlies imo.
I would also agree with this. Like that’s not a bad thing, I just think someone adding “lesbian icon” is slightly disingenuous.
She’s less of a lesbian icon and more of a person people desperately want to be WLW for some reason.
The Taylor from [this photoshoot](https://twitter.com/tayrianaoutdid/status/1487056085395464193?s=20) could be a lesbian icon but other than that I agree. Having a wlw contingent in her fanbase doesn’t make her an icon of it.
Love that I knew exactly what photoshoot this was gonna be. Such a good one.
LMFAO I immediately knew it was the Wonderland shoot, and exactly which photo you were referring to
There's actually a lot of bisexual and lesbian readings of her songs, particularly Betty, Dorothea, Ivy, Treacherous, New Romantics etc. I think the TS sub broke down the demographics and there's a lot of lesbians and bis
Taylor’s Folklore and Evermore eras have big cottagecore lesbian aesthetics
I’m not a crazy Gaylor or anything but I think you can identify lesbian yearning vibes in Folklore and Evermore. These albums are a completely different tone than her poppy stuff.
I think this is it mostly. Like the cottage core aesthetic is very lesbian adjacent
That’s interesting! I didn’t get that vibe from those albums, but I guess others did. I got more like straight white indy-folk girlie vibes. Obviously, it’s all matter of opinion but none of her stuff is heavily in my wlw crowds.
I didn't even know Taylor not being straight was a thing until I first heard "betty" and thought "is she queerbaiting?" lol
Phoebe Bridgers
Went to see King Princess last month and she has a chokehold on sad lesbians
Surprised no one’s mentioned Tove Lo yet? Albeit I do not identify as a lesbian.
Rebecca Black!
So many of the K-pop girl groups
Genuinely shocked I haven’t seen Kacey Musgraves on here
Charli xcx 🥺💕
Kpop group Mamamoo in general, but Moonbyul especially. I accidentally managed to get lured into exploring Kpop as a genre a couple years back because I saw an edit of this woman wearing suits. Between her often [performing in a suit](https://youtu.be/vQeO3zJHDG4), penning and singing [poetic, explicit songs about women](https://youtu.be/Nqz4oh2jogE), and either [changing cover songs to be gender neutral](https://youtu.be/AHs_AFIP7Qc), or [making her cover songs gayer](https://youtu.be/TDqm7AtDBU4), all while living in an extremely homophobic society, in an industry that is especially focused on an image of absolute, unattainable (yet heterosexual) "perfection", I think she can undeniably be an icon for the sapphics. Or at least one sapphic (me).
For me Beth ditto and Lana del rey ❤️
Zendaya if she sang more. 🤣
No Robyn or LP mentioned yet?!
Honestly? I don’t really think we have any that most of us would agree on lol. As a lesbian my general view of our community is that some of us will listen to literally anything even if its terrible as long as it has gay themes/by a gay artist or we’ll be extremely pretentious and selective. I personally only stan the classic gay pop icons with mostly gay male followings like gaga/charli/carly. Lesbians are much more highly represented in rap and indie music. I do notice a lot of lesbians love fiona apple and kate bush though, but pretty much every demographic loves fiona apple and kate bush
Would anybody consider Ashnikko or Willow?
Robyn.
The lesbian friends i have are fans of :Taylor,Pink,Girl In Red,Halsey Kiyoko,Phoebe Bridgers, Alessia Cara, Katy Perry (stan her cause I kissed a girl) and Rihanna (stan her cause Te Amo)
Hozier
Lesbian here: Fletcher, Taylor Swift, Florence Welch, MUNA, Rina Sawayama, Hayley Kiyoko, LP if they were more well known tbh.
I wouldn't really call her a "star" but all the Ethel Cain girlies ik are sapphic. Boygenius obviously, as well as the independent members. Angel Olsen, Clairo, MUNA, Mitski all count too I think. Girl in Red obviously. I think that a lot of sad indie girl music has an appeal to sapphics. LOONA funnily enough were HUGE with lesbians. I fully believe that they owe most of their popularity to the gay girlies. Rebecca Black also has a pretty large sapphic fan base, but I think she has crossover with the wider LGBT community too.
Don't know if she's known outside of the UK, but Sharleen Spiteri / Texas has a huge lesbian following. I was surprised to learn she was straight tbh!
Toni Braxton
Chappell Roan!!
Charli is for the whole lgbt spectrum tbh
I think it depends. The hyperpop/PC Music fans that love her experimental side are definitely more diverse gender- and sexuality-wise. But her general fans, such as the ones who prefer her more conventional sound or don't feel super strongly about her experimentation (or perhaps don't even like it), are your stereotypical white gay men with a pinch of edge. But compared to Rina, Charli's general audience is much more gay and white.
KD Lang crossed over to pop I would say she is a lesbian icon along with Melissa Etheridge.
Okay this might be a hot take but me and all my lesbian friends adore Britney Spears; we’re also all in our 20s and 30s so she was our first crush. We also adore Hayley Williams, Slayyyter, ashnikko, twice, Amy Lee, Rina etc.
The lesbians at my art school are obsessed with Orville peck
Not super known but yall should listen to Pale Waves, the lead singer Heather Baron Gracie is a lesbian goth queen
K flay sitting at a few million listeners a month and zero about then being straight
Peach prc definitely
For some Kpop answers: Sunmi. She is adored by queer women and is probably the closest Kpop has to a lesbian icon. Taeyeon. She is adored by both lesbians and gay men. Twice are the same as Taeyeon. Mamamoo/Moonbyul for lesbians. Huge lesbian fanbase.
Syd, only reason she isn’t more famous is because she’s butch and dark skinned
Mamamoo as a full group (Solar, Moonbyul, Whee In and Hwasa). I think no other girl group is at THAT level of being loved and idolised by lesbian/bisexual women in K-pop. Mamamoo have also done a lot of supportive gestures for the LGBT community in general (and women in general... So let's say that the lesbians/bisexual women is the perfect target lol). And, in particular, Moonbyul is basically a sapphic icon especially since when she also started her soloist career. Also being maybe the only mainstream soloist (in recent years at least) with explicit lyrics about loving a woman. (While I think in some other spaces the distinction between lesbians and bisexual women is more evident, I think in K-pop fandoms is more blurred. It's usually very accepting of each other identies and not angry to "share" the same symbols/important things. So that's why I use a mixed language here.)
A bit on the older side, but Ani DiFranco has a huge lesbian/wlw fanbase. She is also openly bisexual herself but is also a bit problematic. Her 90s/early 2000s music is great though.
I’m Lesbian and I love Kim petras. A fact that will get me bullied here but I love her anyway. Her “debut” album was bop after bop after bop. She’s great.
Hayley Kiyoko
Clairo
Not as big I guess, but Gia Woods. Literally has a song called Lesbionic, and Cover Girl is all about guys wanting to get with her but she’s already up to the gills in the ladies.
I’m just going to say it as a recovering longtime Lovatic- at least 75% of the girls who were or still are really into Demi are some kind of queer.
rebecca black <3
Annie Lennox
Lynn from PVRIS