Sam Smith: "It’s still hard to be queer"

Sam Smith says queer people still get a lot of backlash in the world. The 'Unholy' hitmaker, who uses the pronouns "they/them", says they thought that fame would shield them from homophobic comments. 

But during a recent interview on Apple Music's 'The Zane Lowe Show', Sam revealed that they still get hate. 

“It’s still hard to be queer. There’s still backlash. I still get things said to me on the street, even now. The weirdest thing is you can be famous, you can be a pop star and you still get it," the Grammy Award winner said.

Sam added: "... I thought I’d become a pop star and I’d never get a bad word said to me ever again. I’d never have homophobia. I’d never experience it if I became a star. And then it happens and it’s still there. It’s still there.”

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Despite the hate, the 30-year-old says they have a "powerful" voice as an artist and will always use it to stand up for the LGBTQI+ community. 

“You have to talk about it all. And I’ve stepped into that because I’ve now realised how powerful that is. And there are kids out there that need this. They need us to talk about it.”

Sam's hit single, 'Unholy' with Kim Petras, made history in October when they became the first non-binary and transgender musicians to claim the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100.  

The song, which features on Sam's new album, 'Gloria', is at #2 on the ECR Top 40 with Danny brought to you by CTM. 

Sam recently revealed that they lost some of their fans due to homophobia and transphobia after coming out as non-binary. 

"In terms of music I definitely feel like there are some people that have turned away, I think purely down to homophobia and transphobia. That’s a hard thing to take on, that people are digesting your music in a different way.

"My music has always been queer. 'Stay With Me' was a queer song. 'In The Lonely Hour'... it was all about being in love with a straight guy... but I think it’s fascinating how people’s politics sometimes can leak into their love of music," they told Annie Mac on her 'Changes' podcast in October. 

Sam added they are not trying to "destroy gender" with their views or expression. 

“Right now what’s needed is just to acknowledge that there is a third box and that trans people do exist."

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Main image credit: Instagram/@samsmith