Growing up as a Bisexual in the mid-2000s, and being confused about everything, life, friends, school, sexuality and so much more was… interesting. I attended a church primary school, my family had a religious upbringing – to be myself was surely off the table? Right?
My mum who had me at a young age was starting to explore her career and was busy with work, and uni so I spent a lot of time at home alone, or at my grandparents, and like a typical teen – I was always in my room… I struggled with accepting myself, as everything around me was telling me that my feelings were wrong and bad
After I had reached my early teens, I was in a very, VERY, weird place (Special shoutout to the internet here) – I started high school in 2006, and that was when I felt a shift, I’d always known I liked girls, and I liked boys… but one of those was easier to shout from the rooftops, and because of the way society views LGBTQIA+ Youth I was terrified, going into high school sparked something in me, I thought I could be more myself… this is the part in the movie where the narrator would freeze the scene and announce ”it was at this point Jade knew, she fucked up”
I, unfortunately, experienced a lot of bullying in high school, and this worsened around the time I met a girl, who I vibed, we were just two peas in one little pod.. we liked the same things, she was funny, smart, pretty… God, was she pretty… and I quickly fell for her… hard.
She had come over for tea one day whilst I was babysitting, and we really hit it off, this was the first time I kissed a girl… not a schoolyard peck, an actual kiss with all the emotion behind it… I was on Cloud 9 – she confided in her best friend about ‘us‘ and thus the rumour mill began to turn, some of my ‘friends‘ decided to out us to my entire year group… which made my life hell, and this girl quickly began to twist our interactions to paint herself in a ‘better light’. Not accepting the bisexual nature of the interaction.
A lot of girls were physically repulsed by my presence and refused to change in the same room as me, which meant I had to change in the showers. alone. this made growing up extremely hard for me, I experienced bullying every day and at home I was alone… So I turned to music and writing…
I am so happy that as an adult, I can finally live my truth, but I am only now exploring things and finding myself, with this being said, and it being Pride Month I wanted to share some of the songs that make my little bisexual heart go pitter-patter
Nights Like This – Kehlani ft Ty Dollar $ign
This song speaks to me, about past relationships that turned sour, the ones that got away and moved onto someone new…everything, this song literally has me hurting but in a good way.
A true in my feelings song
Kehlani has always been open about her sexuality and discussed this as well as a privilege from seeming to be a “cisgender-presenting, straight-presenting” person in a world and industry this is still very heteronormative. After her onstage kiss with Demi Lovato during the singers Tell Me You Love Me Tour, she addressed her sexuality via Twitter. You can read her full interview with ET here.
You Need To Calm Down – Taylor Swift
This video is gold! Featuring LGBTQIA+ Artists, Personalities and Allys, and a lot of subliminal messaging. The song is gold! Aiming at online abuse, homophobia and the comparisons made between female artists and strives for human equality. this is truly a song that you can get behind and it’s catchy too.
Anyone who has experienced hate online, homophobia and sexism have to feel the groove in their soul when they hear this song. Taylor is a long time LGBTQIA+ Ally. You can read more about her activism here.
Brave – Sara Bareilles
Sarah Barellis. This woman deserves the world. Her music catalogue is exceptional, and listening to this song truly takes me back to my teenage years, and this song gives me the strength to shout from the rooftops, I am a bisexual woman and I deserve to proud too. Sarah wrote this song for a friend who was struggling with the decision to come out, and this really comes through in the song.
The video is also excellent. This truly is an anthem for different, and I love different. I wanna dance in a library too… Sarah Bareilles has been a longtime ally of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X
This resonates with me deeply, the message, the video, the music… if you know you know. There is a lot of symbolism in this video, and the backlash in the days after it posted from the Christian communities only shot it further to the moon.
Montero Lamar Hill (Lil Nas X) shot to fame with the country rap song ‘Old Town Road’ and is an openly gay artist, who is striving for rap to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive.
HE POLE DANCES TO HELL AND GIVES SATAN A LAP DANCE… I just live for this video
Closer – Tegan and Sara
This video!!! It is just a massive human love fest… Be you Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer, Intergender, Asexual and everything in between – This video encompasses just what this is all about… Human Love. It doesn’t matter who you love, love them & love them hard!
Both Tegan and Sara are openly gay. This is refreshing to see a female music duo, who are queer have such a success in a ‘boys club’ industry.
Is there a song that you absolutely love that I missed? Let me know in the Twitter comments or tweet me @jadelouiseyates. For more of our music content, please click here. Bisexual