Dua Lipa said homophobia & transphobia both stem from the same source

Grammy Award-winning singer and LGBTQ+ ally Dua Lipa declared “homophobia and transphobia are neighbors of misogyny” in her recent interview with the fashion magazine Vogue France.

The interviewer, Arthur Dreyfus, also mentioned the queer-allied female musicians who inspire Lipa, the fact that so many of Lipa’s songs have been used for RuPaul’s Drag Race lip-syncs, and the criticism she received after going to a female strip club with fellow musician Lizzo.

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Lizzo accused of sexual harassment & weight-shaming by former dancers

A lawyer for the dancers said that the allegations seem “to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly.”

Dreyfus mentioned that drag queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race have lip-synced to Lipa’s songs numerous times. In fact, she, Celine Deon, Madonna, and Aretha Franklin have all had their songs used seven times for the popular reality TV show’s elimination round.

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“It goes without saying that you are an icon for the LGBTQIA+ community,” Dreyfus said. “Today, the question of gender arouses a lot of violence.”

Lipa replied, “Homophobia and transphobia are neighbors of misogyny. Many people, deep down, are just scared of themselves. The freedom of others forces them to come to terms with something they are too scared to express. The beauty of a free, true, and proud being paralyzes them.”

Her thinking on this issue overlaps somewhat with gay, Black anti-racist writer James Baldwin. Baldwin said that homophobes’ repressed social and emotional needs cause them to violently enact their intimate fantasies onto the bodies of queer men.

Elsewhere in the interview, Dreyfus mentioned Lipa’s love of butterflies (an insect synonymous with homosexuality in Spanish). Lipa said she has always been fascinated by their beauty, freedom, and metamorphosis; she added that humans also go through many metamorphoses during their lives.

Dreyfus mentioned how Lipa admired Madonna, Missy Elliott, Kylie Minogue, and Pink in her younger days. All four women are musicians who have large gay fan bases. “Today, you spend your life meeting and working with some of these artists. Do they still impress you?” Dreyfus asked.

Lipa replied, “Meeting these extraordinary people will never feel mundane. Every morning, I thank the heavens for this crazy life.”

Dreyfus asked whether Lipa thought that the #MeToo movement had made any significant cultural changes. The movement called out powerful men and institutions for unethically using their power to sexually violate women.

“MeToo or not, it’s still scary to be a woman and walk down an empty street alone at night on your way home…. You get your keys ready in your hand, or you grab your bag, or you pretend to be on the phone… I don’t know if that will ever change,” she answered.

“I feel so much more solidarity for what women are going through. Guys are listening more. Maybe they’re just scared of being accused themselves one day, but I still feel like a lot of people are realizing that these structures of domination have been in place since forever. And this realization can change things.”

The interviewer also noted that in 2020, critics accused Lipa of supporting the “exploitation of women” after she attended a female strip club with Lizzo. Lipa said she’s against any sort of exploitation and called “the endless criticism of women’s choices” a “minefield.”

“We’re slutshamed for everything and anything,” Lipa continued. “Does anyone think of people’s own experiences before attacking them? So, for me, it’s really important to respect women’s choices, whatever they are.”

Lipa also said that, despite initially wanting to be the same person at home and on stage, she has since developed an exaggerated stage version of herself and a more chill version for her home life and friendships.

Lipa performed as the headline act at the 2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras alongside nonbinary singer Sam Smith. That year, she said, “I have a massive group of friends and [members of] my team who are part of the LGBTQ community, who have inspired me so much and taught me so much. They’re all my role models in life.”

“It’s entirely a right to be able to love who you want, not just because I have friends in the LGBTQ community, but because we’re all human and we deserve it,” she added. “It’s something I feel very connected to and will continue to fight for.”