Chappell Roan’s lesbian country song and other queer anthems

Chappell Roan made music history with the debut of her lesbian country song “The Giver” on “SNL” on Saturday night. The song broke country music norms, highlighting intimate queer relationships — and many LGBTQ+ country artists, like Roan, have defied similar heteronormative standards in their music in the past.
Roan’s new track is her first time going country, and she went big.
Fiddles backed the “HOT TO GO!” singer as she belted about satisfying her female lovers better than any man could: “Take it like a taker, ’cause baby I’m a giver / Ain’t no need to help me, ’cause baby I deliver / Ain’t no country boy quitter / I get the job done.”
On the bridge, Roan shouted at the audience. “All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right?” she said. “Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right!”
Since Saturday night, Roan’s debut has made huge waves. The choice to premiere the song on “Saturday Night Live” is salient; the season’s first episode drew a massive audience of over 5 million viewers.
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Many are deeming “The Giver” a queer country anthem.
Now, all eyes are on Roan, and on queerness in country music.
And while Roan’s performance was entirely unique with her special flair, there are many artists who’ve highlighted LGBTQ+ relationships and discussed queer intimacy in their country tracks before.
Let’s talk about queerness in country music.
Many consider singer Patrick Haggerty, the frontman of the band Lavender Country, as the first openly gay country singer.
The band’s ’73 album made history with tracks like “Lavender Country,” “Back in the Closet Again” and “Come Out Singing,” among others.
Haggerty died in 2022 at 78 years old due to complications of a stroke.
Since, other artists continue to make history with their openness and their music.
These artists include Ty Herndon, Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlile, Chely Wright, T.J. Osborne, Brooke Eden, Orville Peck, Allison Russell, Cody Belew, Adeem The Artist, Chris Housman, Lil Nas X, Fancy Hagood, Trixie Mattel, Lily Rose, Steve Grand, Katie Pruitt and many more who continue to represent queerness in country music and make the 5 million queer people in the South feel seen.
Here are some of the songs that “The Giver” joins as a queer country anthem.
Musgraves’ 2013 song “Follow Your Arrow” was the CMA Song of the Year in 2014.
The track, which Musgraves wrote with the queer artist Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, a notable gay singer and songwriter, has become a pro-LGBTQ+ anthem. Many believe that a decade ago, the song began to break down barriers in country music.
In the track, Musgraves encourages her listeners to embrace being their true selves: “So, make lots of noise / Kiss lots of boys / Or kiss lots of girls, if that’s something you’re into / When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight / Roll up a joint, or don’t.”
“Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah,” she sings. “Follow your arrow wherever it points.”
Singer-songwriter and model Steve Grand released his song “All-American Boy” in 2013, a queer anthem about longing to be with a man at a Fourth of July party.
He sings, “Be my All-American boy tonight / Where everyday’s the 4th of July / It’s alright, alright / And we can keep this up till the morning light.”
Queer country and Americana icon Brandi Carlile has written a number of LGBTQ+ anthems, like the tender love song “I Belong To You,” the somber piano ballad “Party Of One,” and her uplifting 2021 song “You And Me On The Rock,” a celebration of building your life with a lover.
But Carlile’s 2018 song “The Joke” has become one of her most well-respected anthems for all marginalized individuals, a song where Carlile sings to those who are “under-represented, unloved or illegal,” she said to NPR.
The song, which was nominated for Song and Record of the Year at the 2019 Grammy Awards, sees Carlile addressing younger girls and boys.
“Let ’em laugh while they can / Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind,” she sings.” I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends / And the joke’s on them.”
Lil Nas X’s 2018 hit “Old Town Road” is not about queerness, but it increased visibility for LGBTQ+ artists in country music space and has become, to many, a gay country anthem.
Lil Nas X came out as gay while the song was number one on the charts and the track became the longest-running number one single by an openly queer artist on the Billboard Hot 100 of all time.
The song even won two Grammy Awards at the 2020 ceremony.
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And though the track is not in itself about gay relationships, and rather about the paths to success, wealth, fortune, the song once again showed listeners that queer artists can accomplish these goals and dominate the charts.
Brothers Osborne’s 2021 song “Younger Me” has become a soulful anthem for the queer male community.
In the song’s music video, singer T.J. Osborne, who came out as gay the same year, sits in front of the Tennessee State Capitol building and sings a powerful message to his younger self about coming out.
He croons, “Younger me / Hanging out but not quite fitting in / Didn’t know that being different / Really wouldn’t be the end / Younger me.”
Country artist Brooke Eden released her track “Got No Choice” in May 2021 after coming out as queer earlier the same year. In the song’s lauded music video, Eden sings to her real-life then-girlfriend, Hilary Hoover, who is now her wife.
In the catchy country-pop song, Eden sings, “Hearing gossip from my neighbors / We don’t fit on paper / From the bars to the church crowd / We’re the talk of the whole town.”
On the chorus she warbles, “I, I ain’t got no choice but to love you / Got no choice but to love you.”
Tyler Childers’ July 2023 track “In Your Love” made waves after its music video portrayed a gay love story. Many LGBTQ+ activists and artists have lauded the video and song as an important moment for queer inclusion.
The song, which appeared on Childers’ most recent album “Rustin’ In The Rain,” showcases a devoted, loyal kind of love: “I will wait for you / ‘Til the sun turns into ashes / And bows down to the moon / I will wait for you.”
More:Tyler Childers’ new video ‘In Your Love’ hailed for showing gay love in rural America
Though Childers is not queer, he told NPR he wanted to create a music video that tells a gay love story because his cousin, who is like a big brother to him, is gay. So Childers enlisted the help of his friend and the Kentucky poet laureate at the time, queer writer Silas House, who wrote the video for the song.
The “In Your Love” music video depicts the story of two men in Appalachia in the 1950s who fall in love as they work together in a coal mine. After facing attacks from coworkers, they move to the countryside and build a farm together, staying devoted to each other through and through.
The video stars two gay actors, Colton Haynes and James Scully.
This year, Willie Nelson revisited the old song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other,” pairing with Orville Peck, a gay country artist who is known for “Midnight Ride,” “Dead of Night” and “Roses Are Falling.”
The gay cowboy song was originally written in 1981 by Latin country musician Ned Sublette and covered by Nelson in 2006, becoming a major gay country music cover.
“Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other / What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?” they sing in the 2024 collaboration.
“There’s many a cowboy who don’t understand the way that he feels for his brother / And inside every lady, there’s a cowboy who’d love to come out.”
These eight tracks are only the tip of the iceberg of the queer country community, a community that grew by at least one song this past weekend.
Chappell Roan’s “The Giver” exists among good company, joining tracks that continue to amplify the experiences of the over 7.6% of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+.
Audrey Gibbs is a music reporter for The Tennessean. You can reach her at [email protected].