La Roux reveals the heartbreaking reason why she hid her sexuality early in her career
Elly Jackson of La Roux (Andrew Benge/Redferns via Getty Images)
La Roux has said she avoided going public with her girlfriend earlier in her career because she was paranoid about the impact on her music.
Speaking to The Independent this week, the “Bulletproof” singer revealed why she chose not to publicly speak about having a girlfriend early in her career.
Asked about her sexuality in a 2009 interview, she had said: “Everyone just thinks I’m a raging lesbian and I want to see everyone’s boobs. Sorry, I’m not.”
The singer also gave interviews denying that she “swings both ways” – rejecting the labels of gay, bisexual and straight.
La Roux: ‘I was paranoid my show would just be full of gay women.’
Reflecting on the omissions, she told The Independent: “I was 21, and I was like, ‘I’ve only just realised I’m in love with my best mate, can you f***ing chill out? Can you leave me alone?’ I wasn’t ready to be on a pedestal of like, ‘I represent all gay people.’ I just wasn’t ready to say that.”
The singer, real name Elly Jackson, told the outlet that coming out had affected the careers of other musicians who spoke publicly about their sexuality.
She said: “I was really overly paranoid that my whole show would just be full of gay women, and that it would just become a gay scene thing.
“I don’t mind if there’s 50 per cent this, 50 per cent that, but I just didn’t want it to be lent totally straight and I didn’t want it to be lent totally gay.
“I think that’s what drove me to not talk about this stuff for a long time.”
Singer Elly Jackson of La Roux performs live on stage during Melt! Festival in 2015 (Photo by Stefan Hoederath/Redferns)
She added: “Obviously now I’ve realised, ‘God you were a bit weird about it. You definitely were a bit weird about it. It’s not a f**king big deal.’
“And maybe it’s easier to talk about now because it is 10 years later. You can’t take that for granted. ‘Why do I feel so much more comfortable talking about this now?’
“Well, you’ve been through s**t loads and everything’s moved on in a really big way.”
Singer still doesn’t like labels.
Although she is now more open about her sexuality, the singer still has some beef with parts of the gay community.
She said:”I swear to God, labelling yourself creates segregation. It drives me mad. The gay community are dying for you to label yourself, and I’m so confused as to how they think that’s helpful.
“It’s where I’ll always have friction with some part of the gay community, even though I’m a f**king gay person. How does that make any sense?”
Elsewhere in the interview, the singer said she “couldn’t give a f**k” if people misgender her.
She said: “I’ve been misgendered. I don’t care. I got called sir three days ago by a delivery guy. And then they look at me for more than two and a half seconds and they’re like, ‘Oh, sorry, I thought it was a bloke then.’
“I’m like, ‘It’s fine, I didn’t cut my hair and dress like this so everyone could think I was Gwyneth Paltrow.’ I am making some choices here. I take responsibility for it.”
