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Lil Nas X, the openly gay 22-year-old rapper, singer and songwriter, has had a very successful year.
2021 saw the release of Nas' highly controversial song "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" that featured an accompanying music video where Nas does a literal pole dance to hell where he finds himself in several suggestive positions on Satan's lap.
Nas performed the hit on the BET Awards, where he kissed another man on stage near the end of his number.
You can see the performance here:
The crowd cheered.
Response to the moment lit up Twitter, since it was a surprise and an incredibly powerful statement for a young, queer man of color to make.
Lil Nas X is so important. Not for just “representation” and combatting homophobia from outside of the queer commun… https://t.co/vb2bq7GYpC— maybe: Phillip (@maybe: Phillip) 1624907180.0
I hope Lil Nas X knows how well-loved he is by queer Black folx despite the noise coming from YTs who hate Black fo… https://t.co/KjwNd8u1ue— Clarkisha Kent (@Clarkisha Kent) 1624911685.0
all lil nas x does is be super gay and make people mad and honestly that is the blueprint— Matt Bellassai (@Matt Bellassai) 1624911149.0
Watching Lil Nas X refuse to let bigots force shame on him is incredible. https://t.co/yViPGtGaYL— Ben Yahr (@Ben Yahr) 1624912663.0
But, as always, Lil Nas X is facing homophobia now.
After invoking African (and specifically ancient Egyptian) culture in the aesthetic and in the choreography of his piece, he received some hatred for not "[respecting his] ancestors."
Nas made sure the public knew this was nonsense.
y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in african culture https://t.co/mGmah0CbP9— nope 🏹 (@nope 🏹) 1624850267.0
And some folks followed up with mini African history lessons.
In 🇺🇬, “Mudoko dako”nwere treated as women and could marry men. The Bunyoro had cross dressing / homosexual male p… https://t.co/HEIcUSUVe2— 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓮 (@𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓮) 1624865688.0
We (the gays) are in every culture. https://t.co/HzeHKMBnH0— Alyssa Nicole Cabrera (@Alyssa Nicole Cabrera) 1624855511.0
Wheeeew a Ted talk for another day. The level of toxic homophobia that exist in the black community is the result o… https://t.co/ADIxXK0wOV— Alfonso Tolbert (@Alfonso Tolbert) 1624852766.0
Tell them about RA and Egypt people need to educate themselves.. https://t.co/1NMVflCKmI— FWyine Magazine (@FWyine Magazine) 1624924811.0
A handy 2015 column from The Guardiancontains more examples of LGBTQ+ representation in traditional African culture.
Another homophobic Tweeter claimed Nas' red carpet attire was going to corrupt the youth.
"I'm sure he was paid a million dollars to wear this nonsense. This will cause other little boys that admire him to dress this way for free and I hate seeing men emasculated."
Nas responded with an affirmation the emasculation of all men was his clear goal.
we causing the emasculation of men all 2021 😈🥶💯 https://t.co/bOQJne3BYL— nope 🏹 (@nope 🏹) 1624881729.0
@LilNasX The hetros are upsetro— Liv 💖💛💙 (@Liv 💖💛💙) 1624881822.0
@LilNasX Hold up, who's handing out "being gay" money?— Moon-faced Assassin of Joy (@Moon-faced Assassin of Joy) 1624893462.0
@LilNasX mfs getting paid to be gay? didn’t know that was an option hol up https://t.co/Nz1l1AfmuD— HEAVENLY CONTROLLER 👑 (@HEAVENLY CONTROLLER 👑) 1624882035.0
@LilNasX Good morning king https://t.co/I3Z0DtVDld— 𖨆 (@𖨆) 1624881838.0
Nas' boundary-breaking comes with more than a little pushback, as what he is doing was hardly ever attempted on such a grand scale.
But plenty of fans are continuing to love his work, and he's not going anywhere.