Flamy Grant.Photo:Flamy Grant
Flamy Grant
“I think it was actually really great that it took a minute for this moment to happen because I was ready,” Grant tells PEOPLE. “I had already chosen to release a record in the Christian genre. It was sitting there, just literally waiting for someone like Sean Feucht to give it a golden platter to fly off on.”
Feucht, a fellow performer, shared a clip of Grant’s"Boys Will Be Girls"collaboration with fellow Christian musician Derek Webb to social media earlier this week. Utilizing harmful rhetoric that’s fueled recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation throughout the United States, Feucht called the video “sick” and “twisted.”
“The most visibly queer people are the ones who are most being vilified right now, and so to have a drag queen occupying space in something that has traditionally been seen as belonging to those right wing folks, it’s something people want to talk about,” she says. “I get it, and I’m really grateful for it. It’s f—ing cool.”
A bit of pushback isn’t going to take Grant down. She grew up deeply religious, spent over two decades as a worship leader and even ran her own church before coming out and ultimately losing the support of her longtime Christian community, who believed LGBTQ+ people would be punished for eternity.
“I stayed so much longer than I should have, unfortunately, but it was because I was afraid,” says the singer-songwriter. “That fear tactic worked on me for a really long time, and I think the fear is still working very strongly in this country, especially in conservative, evangelical places.”
Now, Grant lives a happy and empowered life with her husband. She still dips into churches every now and then — specifically “open and affirming congregations” — but her faith is more spiritual than religious these days. “I gave the first half of my life to church, and I think I want to give the second half to something else,” she says.
When it came to putting together her debut project, Grant decided to create music within the Christian genre after watching other queer artists such as collaboratorSemler’s music make likeminded individuals feel “safe” and “seen.”
Flamy Grant.Flamy Grant
“We have to navigate other people’s fear, and sometimes that includes guiding those people through their fear and representing the queer community to those people and being like, ‘Hey, you actually don’t have anything to be afraid of. I’m a human just like you,'” continues Grant. “I feel like that’s a ministry in and of itself.”
Her message has already connected with audiences around the country, including nearly 90,000 followers on TikTok. But after topping the iTunes Christian albums chart, she’s bound to share her music with many more listeners in the near future.
“My email inbox for the first time is full of people inviting me to play gigs. I’m always the one who has to go book my gigs. I have to sell myself and convince people that a drag queen who sings songs about religious trauma is worth their time — which is a hard sell,” quips Grant. “I’m definitely seeing that little bump, and it’s greatly appreciated. Thank you, Sean Feucht.”
source: people.com
