Hayley Kiyoko on connecting artistry and identity
Mashable celebrates Pride all year long and honors Pride Month in June by exploring and championing the modern LGBTQ world in all its glorious queerness — including the leaders, conversations, and spaces, both online and off, making up a community that embraces and continues to fight for the freedom to thrive as our most authentic selves.
Every day of Pride Month, Mashable will be sharing illuminating conversations with members of the LGBTQ community who are making history right now.
Her fans have dubbed her the "Lesbian Jesus." NME magazine hailed her as "the source of the Sapphic Second Coming." Her iconic status turned the #20GAYTEEN hashtag (which she created to celebrate LGBTQ pride in 2018) into a viral movement. It's easy to feel Hayley Kiyoko's impact — but how did she get here?
Even before reaching this level of fame, Kiyoko has had an impulse for creative pursuits. As a way to support her musical career in her early twenties, she took up various acting roles, appearing in Disney Channel's Lemonade Mouth and Wizard's of Waverly Place, as well as on the short-lived television series CSI: Cyber.
Gaining a swath of young fans, she was eventually recruited for a girl group The Stunners. The group formed in 2007, enjoying moderate success and supporting Justin Bieber on his first world tour before disbanding in 2011. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kiyoko says she did it mainly for the experience.
Up until Kiyoko released her second EP, This Side Of Paradise in 2015, her sexuality had not been prevalent in her work. The turning point came in 2015 with her single “Girls Like Girls,” which became a viral sensation. The music video currently has over 100 million views. Co-directed by Kiyoko herself, filmed with the help of her friends, and with a modest $5,000 budget, the plot centers around two teenage girls crushing on one another, and fighting back against a predatory straight man who won’t leave them alone.
But her momentum didn't stop there — she secured a major label deal with Atlantic, and following This Side of Paradise she released her debut album Expectations, a bold and triumphantly rich album full of love songs for and about women. Kiyoko still directs some of her music videos, such as "Curious" and "What I Need", and continues to write music that empowers and centers LGBTQ passion.
For her younger, LGBTQ fanbase, watching a gay woman rise to stardom in an unforgiving, heteronormative industry while openly reflecting gay desire in her music is invaluable. Kiyoko, for her part, has tried to live up to this reputation, even, as Rolling Stone reports, playing gay matchmaker.
Still, the industry has sometimes felt restrictive. She says she was told she needed to become a YouTube star and record covers and, at one point, that girls couldn't mention other girls romantically in a pop song. She has also felt pressure that she "had to attract men to be successful."
Despite that, she remains true to herself. "I’m doing what comes naturally. I hope anyone can listen to my music and relate to it no matter what their sexuality is," she says on her website. "At the same time, I’m humbled and appreciative to provide a voice for people who might not feel represented in the mainstream."
Mashable spoke to Kiyoko about her identity, artistry and where the LGBTQ community stands in a post-#20GAYTEEN world.
The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.
Mashable: How has your identity informed your work?
Hayley Kiyoko: I don’t think it’s easy to separate identity from artistry, which obviously means that a lot of my work is influenced by my own life experiences. There are many relatable themes in my music and my videos, they just happen to be through the lens of a woman who loves other women.
Mashable: What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the community right now?
HK: While there has been great progress in gaining representation, we are still facing a long road ahead in getting basic civil rights in certain areas of society. Not just here in the U.S., but also around the world in cultures that are still not accepting of LGBTQ individuals.
Mashable: What does "pride" mean to you?
HK: Embracing who you are and being fearless in living your truth, despite whatever challenges you may face in life. It’s about loving yourself and supporting your community.
Mashable: Where do you hope the community will stand in society in 50 years?
HK: I hope I can live to see the day where people can be truly free to be who we are without judgement. Where we can be united as human beings regardless of what we look like or who we choose to love or what gender we are.
Read more great Pride Month stories:
YouTuber Kat Blaque on Pride, identity, and what it means to go viral
Representation is abysmal, so here are 15 animated characters the trans community has claimed
Sage is the newest Culture writer on the block at Mashable NYC. They recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, and have previously worked for The Dr. Oz Show, NorthSouth Productions, and on Netflix's 'The OA Part II'. Off the clock, they can be found testing out cupcake recipes, collecting dolls, and watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure for the millionth time.
