Katy Perry: "Sexuality isn't as black and white as this dress."
Pop ROC Pride: Your weekly LGBT Pop Culture update, fresh from Rochester, NY!
We, as a culture are so used to celebrities being open books. We ask them what their lyrics mean, if the character they won an Oscar for had a similar background, or if the villain in their novel is a fictionalized version of their ex-husband. So when they admit to more private things, like their sexual orientation or a mental illness, we're taken aback. How did we not see that? we think. This recently happens with singer Katy Perry. She rose to fame in 2008 with her No. 1 single "I Kissed a Girl". Some people loved it, some hated it. Others complained that it wasn't genuine, she probably just make it up to be provocative. But at the Human Rights Campaign Gala in March, she admitted it did really happen, and that she "did more than that" to an amused, yet supportive crowd. She had a strict Christian upbringing and when she explored her feelings and had experiences, she tried to "pray away the gay" at religious camps. But when she chose to leave her comfort zone, she realized people in the LGBT community were "the most free, strong, kind and inclusive people I have ever met." Just another reminder that even world-famous pop stars need time and support to courageously tell their truth.