Country Queer

Lifting up LGBTQ+ voices in country and Americana.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month with the ‘Come Out Singing!’ Series

Lavender Country, 1973.

New to following Country Queer and curious about the history of queerness in country music? Looking for a way to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month this October and get in touch with your queer country roots?

Good news: we’ll be celebrating all October with our “Come Out Singing!” series, where Country Queer will be taking a closer look at queer country history. Across a collection of nine articles published every Tuesday from October through November, we aim to tell some of the untold stories of the history of country music, covering from the 1920s to the present day. Keep an eye out for first article, out October 5.

There are of course far more stories to uncover than one series can, but we hope that these will at least start conversations, and encourage us all to take a further look and listen into our roots.

On top of the series, Country Queer will be holding some special events in October to celebrate queer country history and bring our community together:

Come Out Singing! Discussion Panel: Our first event will be a free and open to the public discussion panel on Tuesday, October 12, 6-8pm EST. The panel will feature authors and academics Francesca T. Royster (Sounding Like a No-No: Queer Sounds and Outrageous Acts in the Post-Soul Era, as well as an upcoming project on Blackness in country music); Nadine Hubbs (Rednecks, Queers and Country Music and the forthcoming Country Mexicans: Sounding Mexican American Life, Love, and Belonging in Country Music); and Shana Goldin-Perschbacher (Queer Country, forthcoming 2022). The panel will also feature writers from the “Come Out Singing!” series. Register for free here.

Come Out Singing! The Concert: We’ll also be holding a special free concert livestream hosted by Black Opry Creator Holly G, featuring songs from and inspired by queer country history that will be released during the month of October. The concert will feature performances from Chelsea Dawn, Eryn Brothers, Jett Holden and Yukon McGee, as well as a few other special guests. Keep an eye out more information to come.

We hope you will join us this month, in support of both the legacy of queer country and the modern-day artists keeping the flame alive.