BY: Nyla Stanford
Published 3 hours ago
Steve Lacy has ventured through musical groups, TikTok fame, and the misfortune of the public needing to know his sexuality. This isn’t the first time that Lacy has damned the thought of coming out. And it certainly won’t be his last.
Lacy’s Musical Journey
The 27-year-old recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss everything from his musical journey to YSL to his sexual orientation. The singer, known for his addictive hit “Bad Habit,” started as a young musician under the wing of the musical group The Internet. During his time with them, he developed a certain mastery of almost every instrument. His reckoning skills culminated in The Internet’s third studio album, “Ego Death”.
The surrounding excitement only fueled his fan base, along with his nondescript nods to lovers. The lover mentioned was never formed, whether woman, man, or otherwise. So with the debut of “Gemini Rights”, inspired by the breakup of his ex-boyfriend, he cemented his queerness.
Prior Discussions of His Sexuality
This openness hasn’t come without discernment. Previously, when questioned if he’d date a man, Lacy’s lackluster response landed him a prime-time headline in the tabloids. Since then, he’s never explicitly mentioned a love interest. “I don’t care to announce who I’m into sexually,” he told Variety. “It’s silly. I never felt like I needed to come out.”
With Lacy’s new album, “Oh Yeah?,” he enters a state where the fluidity of his sexuality is bridged with happiness. A part of Lacy’s charm is the melancholy that pervades his music. Particularly when it comes to romance, which may be attributed to his lack of desire to speak about it. This time around, he is flushed with “romantic boners” and genuine joy. When asked about his crush, the artist mentions his desire to just be with him, not stressing so deeply on the optics.
This hadn’t stopped his introspective thought on his identity and how to vocalize it. “I never wanted anyone to call me gay before I told them I was anything, gay or whatever, you know? It’d probably be easier if it were just like, ‘I’m g-word,’ but I’m not g-word,” Lacy told Rolling Stone. “It’s fluid, and queer is a lot harder to explain than just being a gay dude.” The fluidity sentiment can be said for many queer people in the community. The binary understanding of queerness through the eyes of a heteronormative society can make it difficult to express when one simply doesn’t feel that way.
The Historical Inclusion of LGBTQIA+
The journey to add beyond gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgender wasn’t without difficulty. Originally, gay was the umbrella term that included every differing sexuality. During the AIDS crisis, the lesbian community stood at the forefront of the community. This aided in adding the L and having it at the front. LGB held the standard throughout the 90s. In the early 2000s, the recognition of transgender individuals within the community cemented the T. In 2016, the official addition of queer/questioning within the community followed. The inclusion of intersex and asexual has been unofficially adopted for many references to the LGBTQIA+ community.
The exploration and discovery of identities have shaped Lacy’s stance regarding his own identity. “I love how my fluidity is just felt through the music. I feel like a lot of people use the gay bug to market their s**t. And I never did,” Lacy states in his Rolling Stone interview.
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