GAY AND FAMOUS: Celesbians | Grazia India
Never before have queer women been so deeply embedded in the zeitgeist and embraced by it. What’s going on?
Celebrities are just like us. Add lesbianism to the mix and you’re amazed at another, very real level of identification.
Celesbians (celebrities who publicly identify as lesbians, or more generally as WLW (Women who love women)) are shining brighter than ever on the altar of the mainstream. From Renee Rapp serenading a woman on the Coachella stage (after being introduced by the cast of the iconic series The L Word), to Billie Eilish admitting in an interview, “I realized I wanted my face in a vagina,” to Kristen Stewart’s extremely lesbian press tour for Love Lies Bleeding, we’ve come a long way from the days when A-list celebs had to keep their identities secret. Whether on duty or off, these women tell it like it is: longing, lust, and all.
These open expressions of longing have a great liberating power. These celebrities not only live their lives openly, but have also taken control of their image by giving the middle finger to the feverish speculations of the tabloid press. about their sexual orientation. Even when Kristen Stewart came out as bisexual in 2017, the media continued to refer to her friend as her ‘friend.’ Cut to 2024: She’s living her best Sapphic life, starring in thrillers that portray her that way. Coming out to the media in front of the world can be complicated – and no one, no matter how famous, owes anyone an explanation about their sexual orientation. Yet, to this day, stars across the spectrum are hounded and even accused of ‘queer-baiting,’ to the point of coming out perhaps before they were ready. On the other hand, there are those who build their artistic work and public image by not mincing words about who they really want romantically.
Although she described herself as a “bisexual Justin Bieber,” Renee Rapp later clarified that she identifies as a lesbian, which also reflects a growing acceptance of the fluidity inherent in sexuality.
Although queer female desire is nothing new in pop culture, the way it is portrayed – and audiences it serves – is characterized by a significant shift. I kissed a girl (2008), Katy Perry worried whether her boyfriend would object to her same-sex adventures. Girls Like Girls (2015), Hayley Kiyoko cheekily steals kisses from another man’s wife. In Good luck, baby! (2024)Chappell Roan tells her estranged “sweetheart” that she can kiss a hundred guys in bars to try to suppress the feelings (but she’ll obviously inevitably fail). There’s a clear shift away from the comp-het (compulsory heterosexuality)-driven pop earworms of the past, which center on the man despite his absence in the actual relationship at the heart of the narrative, toward more authentic, raw songwriting about what it’s really like to be a woman dating other women, no matter the male gaze.
It seems as though the fetishization of lesbian relationships has finally given way to a more genuine and healthy appreciation of the life experiences and emotions that these artists bring to their work as Sapphic women. It is almost as if women, especially those in the public eye, are finally being seen as human beings.
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