Christian Country Music: The Latest Frontier for Gay, Christian Musicians!

I may be out of my league with this post about country western music. The reason? I don't usually listen to such music. I prefer blue grass-country music, especially coming from 25 years in North Carolina, in which Carolina Chocolate Drops, Chatham County Line, and Steep Canyon Rangers would now and then show up at Cat's Cradle, a great music venue in Carrboro, NC.

Country western music is known as some of the most soul-fun music, modern day ballads, often about unexpected love found, love realized, love nurtured, and love lost, but the memory lingers on. 

Recently, there is an emerging gay presence in country western music, or I think I should say country and western music. Recently, Lil Nas X--who is Black and gay--has made inroads in country western music in his song, "Old Town Road," with imagery and references to country western themes and cowboy imagery, but bringing in some of his rap artistry.

Along with Lil Nas, there is also country's T.J. Osbourne, who is the 36 year-old half of the Brothers Osbourne group, has come out of his gay closet. After a year in isolation because of COVID, he decided he wanted to live authentically as the pandemic lifted a bit: “I’m very comfortable being gay,” Osborne said. “I want to get to the height of my career being completely who I am. I mean, I am who I am, but I’ve kept a part of me muted, and it’s been stifling.”

For more on this story, go to: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/country-singer-tj-osborne-comes-out-gay_n_601ae3a7c5b6c2d891a582cc

And then there is Grace Semler Baldridge, who refers to herself as "Semler." Semler is not only a gay country western singer, but she is a Christian, and is singing Christian country western music. In a recent article on religionnews.com, reporter Kathryn Post reported that "Hallelujah (In Your Arms) is currently featured on Spotify's Top Christian Artists playlist: "It’s a song the 31-year-old Los Angeles-based artist calls an “anthem of queer joy.”

As Post notes, Semler is starting to make inroads in a genre of music that has often "blacklisted" gay Christian music and artists. But people like musician Amy Grant--who is a powerful presence in the Christian country music scene--have come to defend the presence of gay Christian musicians in Christian country music (aka, CCM).

This is still new frontier territory. Semler said that many Christian country musicians and executives would rather ignore that she exists as a gay Christian country musician rather than stating support or opposition to it. Because, after all, it does make money. And money matters, even in Christian country music.

For more on this new frontier, go to this link: https://religionnews.com/2021/11/15/ccm-industry-stays-silent-on-lgbtq-inclusion-as-queer-artists-carve-inroads/

What is wonderful is that change is still afoot. We, who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, are continuing to make inroads into territories where we were previously blocked or ignored, such as Christian country music, let alone ordination in the Church. Sometimes the changes we make are big and splashy, and sometimes, it is small but mighty and significant, such as a new song and a new artist in an old "Hee-Haw" kind of world. 

In the words of Semler: Hallelujah! And amen.

 

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